International labour office geneva

Table 6: Progress of education appropriations (2001/2002-2007/2008) 

 

Pre-University University 

Various 

Activities 

Total 

Spending On 

Education 

Billion EGP 

% 

Billion EGP 

% 

Billion EGP 

Billion EGP 

2001/02  

14.2 

68.3% 

 

5 24.0% 

 

1.6  

20.8 

2002/03  

13.3 

64.6% 

 

5.3 

25.7% 

 

2   

20.6 

2003/04  

14.5 

63.9% 

 

5.9 

26.0% 

 

2.3  

22.7 

2004/05  

16 66.7% 

 

6.3 

26.3% 

 

1.7  

24 

2005/06  

17.5 

68.4% 

 

6.5 

25.4% 

 

1.6  

25.6 

2006/07  

18.7 

68.2% 

 

7.1 

25.9% 

 

1.6  

27.4 

2007/08  

21 68.4% 

 

8 26.1% 

 

1.7  

30.7 

Source: Ministry of Finance (2008) Statistical Statement: Draft of State General Budget for FY 2007/2008.

 

Among the challenges faced by higher education are:  

1.

 

Limited relevance of research and education outputs to the needs of civil society, 

especially in social sciences, as revealed by interviews with business community 

representatives.

 

The relevance of education to market demand is one of the most 

debated issues and one of the major areas of concerns in Egypt. High level of 

unemployment, and particularly graduate unemployment, signifies a mismatch 

between what the higher education is offering and what the labour market is 

demanding. Unemployment rate among graduates with intermediate education or 

above reached 12.3 per cent in 2007 (see Figure 5). Unemployment among educated 

 

Labour migration for decent work, economic growth and development in Egypt  

11 

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persons is higher than the general level of unemployment, as shown by Figures 3 and 

5. Moreover, unemployment among university graduates has reached extremely high 

levels recording 26.8 per cent in 2006 (CAPMAS, 2007). According to the 

Global 

Competitiveness Report

, the inadequately educated workforce constituted one of the 

most problematic factors for doing business in Egypt. 

 

2.

 

Limited fiscal sustainability. 

3.

 

Lack of good quality of both education and research. Higher education in Egypt still 

depends on traditional teaching methods that rely mainly on reciting from text books 

while little attention is paid to other participatory methods (seminars, discussion, 

working groups and research activities). This approach hinders developing creative 

and innovative thinking for the students (UNDP, 2003).