Why Add Tutoring To Our Egyptian Educational Program?
Many low-income families struggle to make a livelihood in the Middle East, especially if they are headed by women who are widows, single, or separated. These underprivileged families are often obliged to abandon their children’s education. Thus, the poverty cycle continues with little hope for these children to compete in a professional workforce or elevate their social-economic position. The highest number of dropouts occurs during the transition from primary to preparatory and preparatory to high school. It is essential to circumvent the dropout rate of students in these grades.
Upper Egypt is most vulnerable to income poverty, and children are unable to obtain the essential education to move into upper secondary schools, technical institutes, or universities, particularly for girls. Social mobility, characterized as the possibility of change between economic strata and demographic classes, is stagnant. In Egypt, for example, barely 29% possess intermediate level schooling, and only 15% exceed that up to and including university education (CAPMAS, 2018).
Our organization works in two countries and our board members are travel savvy. Regardless of where we are, the request from economically marginalized mothers is the same: they need help funding their children’s education.
The highest number of Egyptian school dropouts occurs during the transition from primary to preparatory and preparatory to high school.
Our goals for change….
- We plan to launch an after-school tutoring program (photo above, pre-pandemic) to cover English, Arabic, mathematics, science, and social studies to children ages 9-14 in primary (G4-G6) and preparatory (G7-G9)) in three rural Upper Egypt locations. Each site will enroll a minimum of 30 marginalized children. Vital to a successful outcome, the program incorporates the psychosocial support of students and parents. (Closing the socio-economic gap)
- Offer and conduct vocational training for the mothers of the students, including young female relatives. Our goal is for graduates to gain the skill to start or expand a business to supplement their family income. The aim is for families to afford the tutoring fees for the following year. In parallel, each site will encourage mothers and the community to unite to sustain the tutoring program. (Sustainability, women empowerment, and community tutoring).
- Offer microloans to the students’ parents to open or expand a business. The Microfinance Program offers women, men, and youth loans below market rates to receive capital to finance a sustainable business to improve their social-economic situation. The intend is to increase the family income so the parents can afford the upcoming tutoring fees. (Sustainability and community tutoring).
Setting the bar high for our scholarship students is not without intention. We want no less for our international students than we do for our own. Funding for schools is tenuous as our world grasps at the new reality of pandemic economics, but the cost of turning away from the need is too ominous to ignore.
