1049 gender, education egypt · edited by: margaret mottaz and amr taha funding for this report was...

InternationalLabourOffice

Geneva

GENDER, EDUCATION AND CHILD LABOURIN EGYPT

IPECInternationalProgramme on theElimination ofChild Labour

GENDER, EDUCATION AND CHILD LABOURIN EGYPT

GENDER, EDUCATION AND CHILDLABOUR IN EGYPT

By Kawther Abu Gazaleh, Lamia Bulbul, Soheir Hewala, and Suadad Najim

Gender, Education and Child Labour Series co-ordinated by:Anita Amorim and Sule Çaglar

Edited by: Margaret Mottaz and Amr Taha

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First published 2004

Authors: by Kawther Abu Gazaleh, Lamia Bulbul, Soheir Hewala, and Suadad Najim

Gender, Education and Child Labour Series Co-ordinated by: Anita Amorim and S¸ule ÇaglarEdited by: Margaret Mottaz and Amr Taha

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Chapter 1: The national context in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.1 Population and demography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 The economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3 Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.4 Attitudes toward children and gender roles . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2: Child labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2.1 Causes of child labour in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.2 The prevalence of child labour in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . 152.3 Distribution of child labour in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182.4 Characteristics of working children in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . 212.5 The national response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 3: The education system in Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313.2 Education characteristics of the poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323.3 Education and the pool for child labour . . . . . . . . . . . . 333.4 The effect of the educational system policies and problems

on child labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.5 The effect of child labour on schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.6 Essential features of gender differentials in basic education . . 473.7 Determinants of exclusion from basic education by sex . . . . 493.8 National efforts in education and child labour . . . . . . . . . 543.9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 4: Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

4.1 Economic measures to combat child labour . . . . . . . . . . 594.2 Educational policy measures to combat child labour . . . . . . 64

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List of Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

List of Tables1. Rural/urban poverty lines in Egyptian Pounds (LE) . . . . . . 52. Regional poverty measures (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53. Poverty measurements by governorate in urban areas (per cent) 74. Poverty measurements by governorate in rural areas (per cent) 85. The incidence and distribution of child activity by sex

of head of household 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . 126. The incidence and distribution of child activity by level

of education of household heads (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . 147. The incidence and distribution of child activity by poverty

status 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158. Estimates of child labour prevalence in Egypt, various surveys

1988-1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169. Estimates of child labour prevalence by age, various surveys

1988-1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1610. Children’s labour force participation rate by sex and age

using the market and extended labour force definitions, 1988-98 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

11a. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by sex and areas 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

11b. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by sex and areas 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

12. Incidence of child activity by sex and region 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

13. Children’s labour force participation rate by region1998 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

14. The incidence and distribution of child activity by economic activity of household heads (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

15. Characteristics of working children by sex and location1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

16. Per cent of working adolescents by selected background variables (N=9,128) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

17. Characteristics of working children by sex and location 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

18. Average earned income of working children and their contribution to household income, 1999-2000 . . . . . . . . . 27

19. Apparent intake rate by sex (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3420. Net intake rate by sex (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3421. Gross enrolment rates by sex in primary education (per cent) . 3422. Net enrolment rates by sex in primary education (per cent) . . 35

Gender, education and child labour in Egypt

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23. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by poverty status 1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

24. Dropouts in primary education by sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3625. Dropouts in preparatory education by sex . . . . . . . . . . . 3626. School and work using standard and broad definition

by sex (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3727. Adolescents in unpaid and paid employment by sex

and educational status (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3828. Educational attainment by sex, age and work status

(per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3929. Average expenditure on education per child by poverty status

of household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4130. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by urban/ rural location

1999-2000 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4331. Upper-bound net enrolment ratios by sex and rural/urban

residence, five and six-grades, 1990-91 and 1995-96 (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

32. Percentage of de facto household population aged 6-10 years . 4833. Attitudes of heads of households towards girls’ education and

returns to education by rural/urban residence (per cent) . . . . 5134. Preference of heads of households for university education

by sex and rural/urban residence (per cent) . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Table of contents

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INTRODUCTION

The political commitment to children’s rights is very strong in Egypt. The coun-try was one of the first twenty worldwide to ratify the Convention on the Rightsof the Child (CRC) and also among the initiator countries for the 1990 WorldSummit for Children. Over the past 15 years, the issue of child labour hasbecome a priority item on the agenda of decision-makers and has led to the rat-ification of several international conventions and laws, including the Interna-tional Labour Organization’s (ILO) Child Labour Conventions. In 1996 a com-prehensive childhood law was passed, representing a major step towards makingEgyptian legislation consistent with the spirit and letter of the CRC. In recogni-tion that the child should be at the heart of national plans, a childhood compo-nent was also incorporated into the State’s five-year development plan (1997-2002). The government also extended the Decade of the Protection of theEgyptian Child (1990-2000) to a second decade to cover the period up to 2010.

IPEC in Egypt The ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)has been active in Egypt since 1996, the year that the government signed a mem-orandum of understanding with the ILO. The IPEC Country Programme objec-tives aim at the prevention and elimination of child labour in Egypt. As such itcorresponds to ILO’s aim of the progressive elimination of child labour world-wide, especially its worst forms. IPEC’s multi-sectoral strategy seeks to encour-age ILO constituents and other partners to participate actively in dialogue on theproblem, create alliances, set up mechanisms to provide country ownership,increase awareness in the community and workplace, and support direct actionaimed at preventing child labour. Within the context of the Programme, the with-drawal of children from work is addressed simultaneously with the related issuesof poverty, education and social welfare.

The Country Programme also approaches the child labour problem in anintegrated manner that aims to address the root causes of child labour. It doesthis by promoting the respect for fundamental principles and rights at work, the

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creation of income opportunities for families of child labourers and at-risk chil-dren, the extension of social protection, and the promotion of social dialogue andthe mainstreaming of gender equality. It is complemented by and benefits fromother ILO activities. Building the capacity of the national institutions providesthe foundation of the sustainability and continuation of the application of decentwork principles.

The collaborative efforts of IPEC-Egypt with the government and work-ers’ and employers’ organizations resulted in the ratification of ILO ConventionNo.182 on the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) in 2002. Several additionalsignificant steps have been taken which will facilitate its implementation. Theseinclude a national survey on child labour (November 2001), several stakehold-ers workshops in regions where child labour is prevalent, a request from the Min-ister of Labour to all concerned governmental and non-governmental organiza-tions to present to the National Steering Committee (NSC) a review of theirefforts in the field and suggestions for short-, medium- and long-term actionplans as well as a national comprehensive strategy for the rapid elimination ofthe WFCL.

IPEC-Egypt continues to provide effective leadership in integrating childlabour issues into the agenda of its partners through the sensitization efforts ofthe NSC, the provision of technical assistance, the building of institutional andindividual capacities, the close monitoring of the implementation of action pro-grammes (APs), and through networking and information exchange with otherkey players.

ILO-IPEC in Egypt has a set of objectives that can be summarized as follows:

Short- and medium-term objectives:

1. Contribute to the development of a national strategic framework for com-bating child labour by identifying priority target groups, key interventionareas, links with other development efforts, and resource mobilizationtargets.

2. Create wide awareness of the child labour problem among policy-makersand involve as many sectors of society as possible in the full implementa-tion of ILO Convention No.182 and the instituting of legal reformsrequired to make Egyptian labour law conform with ILO ConventionNo. 138 on the minimum age for admission to employment (ratified in1999).

3. Enhance the capability of strategic partners in combating child labour, par-ticularly its worst forms, and consolidate IPEC initiatives in this regard.

4. Enhance the knowledge base on child labour for developing future policesand programmes.

5. Develop integrated area-based programmes targeting the WFCL and mobi-lize resources for their funding.


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The objective of IPEC in Egypt for the next five years is to fully mainstream childlabour into the policies and programmes of key partners. Achievement of thisobjective will be reflected in:

1. The application of ratified Conventions No. 182 and No. 138.

2. A legislative framework on child labour in line with these Conventions.

3. A comprehensive database on child labour in the country to guide policiesand programmes.

4. The mainstreaming of child labour concerns into policies and programmesof the various government departments as well as overall governmentpolicy.

5. An increase of government resources allocated directly to child labour orindirectly to relevant sectors.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY

This study attempts to provide an analytical review of the existing literature onthe education and gender aspects of child labour. In doing so, the paper aims to:

• search for the linkages between child labour, gender and education;

• identify the gaps in the literature on the linkages between gender, educa-tion and child labour; and

• highlight areas for further research and programme/policy interventions.

In line with the ILO Convention No.182, the paper concentrates on chil-dren in the age bracket of 6-18 years that corresponds to the span of pre-univer-sity education. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information on older workingchildren from 15-18 years in Egypt. Most available studies on the topic focus on7-14 year-olds.

The analysis included in this study is based on the recent quantitative andqualitative literature on the topic. The main sources of statistical data on work-ing children and education mentioned in the literature include: Egypt LabourMarket Surveys (ELMS) 19981; the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (EMICS)for 1996; the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS)Survey for 2000; Labour Force Sample Surveys (LFSS) for 1988 and 19952, theEgyptian Demographic Health Survey (DHS) for 1995, in addition to the dataobtained from the Ministry of Education (1996-97 – 2000-01). The existingqualitative studies on both topics are mainly documentation of selected projectexperiences and specific geographic locations.

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1 Available at: www.ucw-project.org/cgi-bin/ucw/Survey.2 Data access at: www.ucw-project.org/cgibin/ucw/Survey.

STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER

Chapter 1 comprises an overview of the national developmental context.Special emphasis is placed on socio-economic and cultural factors thatcontribute to child labour and the disadvantaged position of girls. Chapter 2 isdevoted to the problem of child labour. Legislation, prevalence, regional status,employment status, and determinant assessment are analysed with a focus ongender. A number of issues including poverty dynamics, household profile andgender disparities are also examined wherever relevant. Chapter 3 discusses theeducation system in Egypt. Here, the enrolment status of children throughout thecountry is presented and gender gaps are examined. Links between dropout ratesand child labour are discussed and the determinants of schooling and childlabour are analysed. A gender focus is applied throughout the study. Chapter 4provides recommendations for future policy.


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THE NATIONAL CONTEXT IN EGYPT

1.1 POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHY

Egypt is located in the north corner of Africa, with a total area of one millionsquare kilometres; its dominant physical features are the river Nile and thedesert. The Nile Delta is where the majority of the population is concentratedand where almost all of the 2 per cent of Egypt’s arable land is located. Less than6 per cent of the country’s total land is inhabited, and over 97 per cent of thepopulation lives in the narrow strip of the Nile Valley and in the Nile Delta,meaning that the effective population density is very high.

The Egyptian population was an estimated 69.5 million as of mid-year2001. Children (0-19 years old) constitute almost half (45 per cent) of the pop-ulation, and young children (0-4 years old) constitute 12 per cent. Historically,the rate of population growth in Egypt has been very high, placing huge pres-sure on the country’s scarce resources. Between 1975 and 2001, the populationincreased by an estimated 88 per cent, or an average of over 1.25 million per-sons per year. Although there has been a decrease in the fertility rate in recentyears, available statistics suggest that total fertility remains as high as 3.9 chil-dren per woman.

Egypt has experienced an extraordinarily rapid urbanization: approximately44 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, compared to only 17 per centin the early 1900s. Census data suggest, however, that the rate of urbanizationhas slowed and perhaps even reversed in recent years. Despite this change in thepattern of urbanization, the problem of child labour still faces the precipitants ofthe earlier growth. When urbanization was at its highest, the rural poor migratedto the cities in search of work, bringing with them their children who added to agrowing pool of child labour.

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1.2 THE ECONOMY

In 1991, Egypt embarked on comprehensive Economic Reform and StructuralAdjustment Programme (ERSAP). The implementation of the ERSAP from1991 to 1996 succeeded in stabilizing the economy by eliminating both internaland external imbalances, holding down inflation, stabilizing the currency, andincreasing international reserves. However, the overall impact of the ERSAP andsubsequent reform are subject to considerable debate. It has been argued thatthese reform policies also led to increased economic hardship for the poor.

Recent estimates from the World Bank reveal that 23 per cent of the pop-ulation lives below the national poverty line and more than 12 per cent of chil-dren under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition. According to Egypt’s 1996Human Development Report3, published jointly by United Nations DevelopmentProgram (UNDP) and the Institute of National Planning (INP), analysis ofhousehold data suggests that total poverty declined from 25 per cent to 23 percent of the population during the period of 1991 to 1996. Even with an overalldecrease in the incidence of poverty, significant regional discrepancies exist.Poverty in Egypt is a complex picture of unbalanced development, underservedcommunities and interrelated social problems with clear manifestations on chil-dren. Gender discrepancies are also indicated by poverty data, revealing pro-gressive rates of the feminization of poverty that particularly affect female-headed households, which account for 12 -20 per cent of all households.

Unemployment rates remain high. However, it is worth noting that thereare considerable variations in the estimates of unemployment depending on thesource of data used. Official statistics indicate that the unemployment rate was7.9 per cent in 1998-99, down from 9.8 per cent in 1993-94. Other publicationsplace the rate between 12 and 15 per cent during the same period. More impor-tant than the level of unemployment is its structure. Available data show thatunemployment has been concentrated among the youth. The ILO estimates that34 per cent of young people aged 15-24 years were unemployed in 1995. Itshould be noted that a large proportion of young people who are employed workas low-paid, unskilled or semi-skilled labourers, often only on a sporadic basis(Fergany, 1995).

Despite the efforts of the Egyptian government and leading economists toimprove the economic status of the Egyptian population, the problem of povertyremains a major challenge. The poverty problem is evidently more than an eco-nomic issue alone, however. It also has numerous important social repercussionsof which child labour is one.


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3 The more recent version of this plan, Egypt Human Development Plan 2002-2003, is avail-able at: http://www.undp.org.eg/publications/ENHDR_2003/NHDR2003.htm).

1.3 POVERTY

Poverty is usually thought of as a lack of income because income is largelyassumed to determine one’s material well-being. “Income poverty” is only partof the picture. Just as human development encompasses much broader aspectsthan income, poverty too has many dimensions. Poverty cannot be objectivelydefined by a minimum level of income or consumption. It also involves accessto income and resources and an individual’s self-perception of her/his economicsituation and position in society. A broader concept of poverty takes into accountlow levels of income and consumption as well as low levels of human develop-ment in terms of education, health and nutritional status, and other factors suchas security and availability of safety nets (El Ehwany and El Laithy, 2001).

Amartya Sen4 defines poverty as the deprivation of basic capabilities ratherthan merely low income. Thinking about poverty therefore entails attention toboth income and non-income needs. The annual UNDP Human DevelopmentReports introduced broader definitions and measurements of poverty, such as theCapability Poverty Measure (CPM) and Human Poverty Index (HPI). The CPMcomplements income measures of poverty by focusing on human capabilities, asthe HPI does. But rather than examine the average state of people’s capabilities,it reflects the percentage of people who lack basic, or minimally essential,human capabilities. The 1997 Human Development Report introduced the HPI,which weighs several variables, including the percentage of people expected todie before the age of forty, the adult illiteracy rate, the percentage of individualswithout access to health services or potable water, and the percentage of chil-dren who are severely underweight.

Poverty is the chief cause for children’s work. Nearly 40 per cent of thesample in the survey on working children undertaken by UNICEF with theNational Centre for Sociological and Criminological Research (NCSCR)(UNICEF, 2002) claimed that they needed work to assist the family and 33 percent of them needed work to support themselves. Moreover, the above-men-tioned survey indicated that the majority of children (66.4 per cent) contributedall of their wages to their families, while 18.4 per cent contributed 75 per centof their wages to their families. The average sum a child contributes was 22.8 percent to 30.7 per cent of the family’s total income. The study also revealed thatthe neediest families were those of working children who lived with theirwidowed or divorced mothers. While the fatherless families represented only13.8 per cent of the total sample, working girls from these families represented20.8 per cent of the total number of all working girls in the sample. In addition,81 per cent of a sub-sample of 90 mothers in the study claimed that the children’sfinancial contribution was extremely important to the family and composed44 per cent of its income on average. In some cases, the children’s wages repre-sented the main or the only source of income for their families.

The national context in Egypt

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4 More information on Amartya Sen can be found at: http://almaz.com/nobel/economics/1998a.html

1.3.1 The state of poverty information systemMost data that is used in poverty analysis is collected by CAPMAS5, the officialstatistical agency of Egypt. Egypt has a long history in collecting statistics,dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century. There are three mainsources of data in this respect: the population censuses, the household income,expenditure and consumption surveys, and the demographic and health surveys.

1.3.2 Income povertyThere is no shortage of poverty estimates for Egypt, but the quality of the esti-mates varies and their comparability over time and across regions is poor. Evenwith the same data set, different poverty estimates result. Debates about themethods of poverty measurement are common. Views differ on how individualwelfare should be measured, where cut-off points to distinguish between incomegroups should be set, and what measures should be used. These differences ofopinion are evident among the studies of the World Bank (1990), Korayem(1994), El Laithy (1996), Cardiff (1997) and El Laithy and Osman (1997). Someof the major differences are the construction of the food basket and the selectionof the unit of consumption. For example, Korayem and Cardiff used householdsas their unit to measure welfare. However, using the household as the unit ofconsumption can be misleading. Ravallion (1992) believes that per capita con-sumption is preferable to household consumption. Relying on householdconsumption as the ranking variable underestimates the measurement in ques-tion because household consumption does reflect the number of members ineach household. Poorer households tend to be larger in size than richer ones,which means that smaller households (which are typically richer) may be clas-sified as poor simply because they are smaller and larger households (which aretypically poorer) may be classified as rich. On a per capita basis, however,smaller households with higher per capita consumption would be ranked asricher than larger households with lower per capita consumption. The WorldBank, El Laithy, and El Laithy and Osman used per capita expenditure withinthe household to place households above or below the poverty lines.

Since the 1996 Egypt Human Development Report (EHDR) was issued,there is general agreement on the poverty lines and poverty measurements to beused to assess poverty in Egypt. This report was the first to introduce a consis-tent approach to poverty measurement across space and time. The report usedthe three poverty lines estimated by El Laithy and Osman. These are: 1) foodpoverty, which was considered as the ultra-poverty line, 2) lower, and 3) upper.The lower poverty line was estimated as the cost of essential food and non-foodrequirements. The upper poverty line reflected actual consumption expenditureof the poor and not essential needs only. The poverty profile presented belowfollows the same concepts and methodologies.

The profile provides a regional (urban and rural) analysis of the levels andtrends of poverty in Egypt over the period from 1990-91 to 1999-2000. The


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5 More information can be found at: www.capmas.gov.eg/eng_v/home.html.

analysis is mainly based on the information obtained for the three referencepoints through two Household Income Expenditure and Consumption Surveys(HIECS) from 1990-91 and 1995-96 and the preliminary results of the 1999-2000 HIECS.

Using the preliminary data for the most recent household income, expen-diture and consumption survey of 1999-2000, the cost-of-basic-needs methodwas used to construct absolute per capita urban/rural food, lower and upperpoverty lines. Table (1) shows the food and total poverty lines for urban and ruralareas in 1999-2000.

Table 1. Rural/urban poverty lines in Egyptian pounds (LE)

Region Food poverty line Regionalpoverty lines

Upper Lower

Urban 902 1952.9 1297

Rural 707 1324.6 955

Source: Preliminary results of HIECS 1999-2000.

Poverty estimates showed that in 1999-2000 overall poverty in Egypt stoodat 20.2 per cent, using the lower poverty line (Table 2). Almost 12 million peoplecould not satisfy their basic food and non-food needs. The poverty gap index was3.8 per cent, implying an average poverty deficit of the poor of LE 206. Usingthe upper poverty line, overall poverty in Egypt rises to 52.1 per cent, repre-senting almost 32 million individuals.

Table 2. Regional poverty measures (per cent)

Region Lower poverty line Upper poverty line

P0 P1 P3 P0 P1 P2

All Egypt 20.15 3.78 1.15 49.63 14.52 4.91

All urban 18.44 3.89 1.31 46.07 16.81 5.43

All rural 21.41 3.69 1.03 52.27 12.82 4.52

Metropolitan 9.01 1.69 0.54 31.26 7.98 2.92

Lower urban 17.93 2.99 0.88 57.87 15.45 5.61

Upper urban 36.33 8.85 3.18 69.26 25.02 11.47

Border urban 10.38 1.65 0.45 35.90 9.07 3.20

Lower rural 11.26 1.38 0.30 44.62 8.66 2.66

Upper rural 34.68 6.72 1.98 69.13 20.37 8.04

Border rural 11.23 1.40 0.28 36.50 7.98 2.48

Source: Preliminary results of HIECS 1999-2000.


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Poverty levels are slightly higher in rural areas when using both the lowerand upper poverty lines. The difference in poverty measurements between urbanand rural areas is wider with regard to the upper poverty line, however. In 1999-2000, almost 5 million people in urban areas were poor, i.e. they could not attainminimum food and non-food requirements, compared to 7 million in rural areas.However, the poverty gap index and the severity of poverty index are higher inurban areas than in rural areas, indicating an expenditure distribution that is moreskewed towards the lower levels in urban areas.

1.3.3 The characteristics of the poor in EgyptLow income is not the only feature of poverty. Poverty is often associated withmalnutrition, higher incidence of child mortality and morbidity, lower educationlevels, poor housing conditions and limited access to basic services, such aswater and sanitation. An examination of the distribution of welfare in Egyptshould therefore focus on the characteristics of those populations falling belowa given poverty line, in addition to their numbers. This analysis is of particularvalue to policy-makers entrusted with the design and targeting of poverty alle-viation strategies.

This section provides a profile of the poor, in terms of age, household com-position, employment characteristics, educational attainment and housing con-ditions. The major policies at the macro-economic level that have contributed tothese characteristics are analysed in Chapter 2.

Regional poverty in Egypt in 1999-2000Overall, the incidence of poverty is the highest in Upper Egypt. Using the lowerpoverty line, poverty incidence is highest in Urban Upper Egypt (36.33 percent),followed by rural Upper Egypt (34.68 percent) and is lowest in the Metropoli-tan region (9.01 percent) (Table 2). The ranking of regions remains unchangedfor other measures of poverty, indicating that not only do poor households in theUpper Egypt region represent large proportions of their population, but that theirexpenditure level is far below the poverty line. The only exception is for theLower Rural region, which has the least poverty gap and poverty severityindices. In general, rural areas within each region have lower poverty measuresthan their urban counterparts.

Geographical distribution of the poor: Poverty mapRegional poverty measures mask significant differences across governorates.The incidence, depth and severity of poverty vary considerably within eachregion. Tables 3 and 4 present poverty measures for various governorates inurban and rural areas respectively.


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Table 3. Poverty measurements by governorate in urban areas (per cent)

Governorate Lower poverty line Upper poverty line

P0 P1 P2 P0 P1 P2

Cairo 8.77 1.72 0.56 28.95 9.99 2.64

Alexandria 11.32 2.04 0.63 35.69 12.25 3.30

Port Said 2.61 0.37 0.07 11.41 3.73 0.70

Suez 4.19 0.53 0.12 18.55 6.09 1.13

Damietta 3.59 0.29 0.06 26.80 8.41 1.09

Dakahlia 21.50 3.58 0.98 58.87 20.28 5.96

Sharkia 26.90 4.48 1.30 72.01 24.97 7.54

Qaliubia 16.06 3.13 1.04 52.73 18.02 4.98

Kafr El-Sheikh 12.24 2.02 0.71 54.64 17.85 3.91

Gharbia 13.14 2.19 0.64 44.42 14.96 3.83

Menufia 26.38 4.70 1.30 65.32 23.46 7.11

Beheira 19.83 3.02 0.86 59.94 20.30 5.55

Ismailia 7.74 0.84 0.17 35.99 11.46 2.20

Giza 21.60 4.14 1.29 53.16 19.13 6.14

Beni-Suef 50.42 15.11 6.04 76.83 34.52 16.27

Fayoum 40.22 9.06 2.89 74.21 29.40 11.34

Menia 23.23 4.69 1.49 58.97 21.20 6.71

Assiut 63.11 18.04 7.20 90.87 41.22 19.87

Sohag 57.88 15.92 6.07 85.07 37.95 17.73

Qena 34.74 6.47 1.90 76.17 27.66 9.61

Aswan 34.11 7.32 2.23 63.37 25.00 9.23

Luxor 40.92 11.89 4.37 58.63 26.83 12.52

Red Sea 11.51 3.14 1.02 35.81 13.49 3.40

New Valley 12.90 2.33 0.63 41.41 14.06 3.82

Matrouh 18.17 2.11 0.40 45.10 15.39 4.37

North Sinai 7.76 0.38 0.12 36.52 11.21 2.47

South Sinai 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.42 2.32 0.05

Total 18.44 3.89 1.31 46.07 16.81 5.43

Source: Preliminary results of HIECS 1999/2000.


7

Table 4. Poverty measurements by governorate in rural areas (per cent)

Governorate Lower poverty line Upper poverty line

P0 P1 P2 P0 P1 P2

Damietta 3.59 0.29 0.06 26.80 8.41 1.09

Dakahlia 21.50 3.58 0.98 58.87 20.28 5.96

Sharkia 26.90 4.48 1.30 72.01 24.97 7.54

Qaliubia 16.06 3.13 1.04 52.73 18.02 4.98

Kafr El-Sheikh 5.10 0.48 0.08 31.52 4.69 1.15

Gharbia 8.67 1.20 0.29 34.51 6.20 1.85

Menufia 20.50 2.46 0.53 54.58 12.31 3.86

Beheira 7.56 0.84 0.18 37.14 6.22 1.66

Ismailia 7.96 1.04 0.21 29.97 5.62 1.65

Giza 15.64 2.25 0.51 42.37 9.45 3.08

Beni-Suef 51.37 10.53 3.16 81.30 26.83 10.97

Fayoum 33.97 6.06 1.61 72.91 19.47 7.06

Menia 24.63 3.73 0.96 61.56 14.89 4.99

Assiut 56.16 12.67 4.02 82.93 29.23 12.55

Sohag 42.12 8.46 2.58 77.40 23.34 9.18

Qena 26.52 4.63 1.28 62.28 15.71 5.59

Aswan 17.41 2.96 0.87 44.83 10.57 3.73

Luxor 36.24 9.11 3.28 48.55 18.85 8.72

Red Sea 4.51 0.57 0.11 27.35 3.92 1.03

New Valley 7.29 0.42 0.02 28.02 4.97 1.27

Matrouh 16.64 2.77 0.64 41.92 10.62 3.51

North Sinai 25.60 3.01 0.58 62.60 14.98 4.69

South Sinai 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.08 1.19 0.20

Total 21.41 3.69 1.03 52.27 12.82 4.52

Source: Preliminary results of HIECS 1999/2000.

Urban povertyAs shown in Table 3, the poverty indices of all governorates in Upper Egyptexceed the corresponding indices at the national level, irrespective of the povertyindex or poverty line used. Poverty incidence is highest in the governorate ofAssuit at almost 30 times the level in Port Said (the governorate with the lowestincidence). Sohag and Beni-Suef governorates follow in second and third posi-tion in terms of poverty. The same pattern holds for the poverty gap and severityindices. Assiut, Beni-Suef and Sohag have the largest poverty indices, which arealmost double the national levels. Thus, poverty is very acute in Upper Egypt,not only in terms of the proportion of the poor, but also in the depth and severity


8

of their poverty. Moreover, all governorates in Upper Egypt contribute tonational poverty by a proportion greater than their share in population.

In Lower Egypt, Qaliubiya, Menufiya and Sharkiya governorates are theonly governorates where poverty measures exceed the national level. In addition,their contribution to national poverty increases if P1 or P2 are considered, indi-cating the depth and severity of poverty in those governorates.

For the Metropolitan governorates, Alexandria has the largest povertymeasures. The incidence of poverty in Cairo is 8.8 per cent, ranking 19th amongthe urban governorates. All of its poverty indices are below the national level.Even though Cairo’s contribution to national poverty indices is less than its sharein population, it constitutes 19 per cent of all urban poor.

Rural povertyPoverty levels vary among governorates in rural areas (Table 4). Like their urbancounterparts, poverty measures in rural Upper Egypt governorates are above thenational average, except for Giza. Assiut has the highest poverty indices, fol-lowed by Beni-Suef and Sohag governorates. With the exception of Giza, thecontributions to the national poverty indices in governorates of Upper Egyptexceed their share in total population.

1.4 ATTITUDES TOWARD CHILDREN AND GENDER ROLES

In Egypt, the family is by far the most important institution for socialization. Itrepresents the first environment where children are introduced to the values,culture and norms of their society. The traditional hierarchical and patriarchalstructure of the Egyptian family would suggest that Egyptian children have verylimited freedom. In this context, parental authority is supreme and children areexpected to show deference to and obey their elders.

Although the content of much of modern Egyptian life has changed, therehas been relatively little change in the degree of gender differentiation in thehousehold. Parents determine and enforce gender roles through the process ofsocialization. The most striking gender differentiation in socialization today isin the division of labour in the household. Girls, whether in school or not, areexpected to carry a full load of chores, including housekeeping, fetching water,running errands, washing clothing, cooking, and caring for siblings. Boys, how-ever, may run a few errands but do much less than their sisters. Associated withthis division of labour is the greater freedom of boys: they have more time oftheir own, and they spend it unsupervised (Hoodfar, 1998).

Discrimination against girls starts from birth and continues throughout life.The social preference for boys results in girls being valued less, fed less, edu-cated less, pushed to work harder, and deprived the opportunity to broaden theirpersonal, social and intellectual horizons. In economically disadvantaged fami-lies, the greater the poverty, the worse the situation of the girl.


9

Traditional attitudes regarding women in society and gender relations inthe household play a role in the relatively disadvantaged status of girls in thehousehold. Sons are expected to shoulder the responsibility of continuing thefamily line and supporting aging parents. Daughters are considered non-perma-nent members of the household since they are expected to marry and leave home.The notion of temporary membership in the natal home results in the perceptionof the girls as burdens to be passed on to another family. Once they do marry,their status may not be any better – in their new households they are consideredoutsiders, reproductive machines and unpaid workers.

Girls are also seen as an economic liability, not only because of a parent’spersonal beliefs but because the market provides few employment opportunitiesfor women. An education for a girl is often thought of as a waste of time andmoney as girls are perceived as offering no prospect of a future economic ben-efit for the family. Parents are also often reluctant to send their girls to schoolbecause the future benefits are is not equal to the present service the child pro-vides at home to replace her mother, who can then go out to work.

Coupled with these general attitudes towards children and their genderroles comes the attitude towards child labour in general and the education ofchildren. For many families, especially farmers, a child is a very importantsource of income. Parents tend to have more children in order to increase theirpotential labour force. Compared with employing non-family workers to helpthem, child family members are cheap labour as they are essentially working forfood and shelter.

Such use of children as labour within their own families is a very goodexplanation for the negative attitude of many of the poor parents towards edu-cating their children. At home the child generates income rather than costingmoney. Moreover, the generally high level of unemployment among the edu-cated means that the income spent on the child’s education may not pay off onthe long run.


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CHILD LABOUR

In Egypt, as in many developing countries, child labour is considered an impor-tant problem. The First Decade of the Egyptian Child, declared in 1990, triggerednational interest in the child labour. This interest coincided with a widespreadrealization that simply banning child labour is unlikely to eradicate the problemand may even be counterproductive. Since the early 1990s, a wealth of researchhas been produced. Some of these studies have focused on child labour’s quali-tative features, while others have concentrated on its quantitative aspects.

One of the major concerns in the literature has been to provide reliableestimates of the prevalence of child labour. However, given the diversity of def-initions and measurement methodologies adopted by the various studies, it is notsurprising to find considerable variation in the estimates of its magnitude.

A child is classified as a worker or economically active by the ILO if thechild is remunerated for that work or if the output of this work is destined for themarket. This definition is also adopted here. Hence, a child is considered to beworking if he/she is being paid for work or is working unpaid for his/her familyproducing output destined for the market.

According to ILO Convention No.182, the worst forms of child labour aredefined as labour that jeopardizes the physical, mental or moral well-being of achild, either because of its nature or the conditions under which it is carried out.

2.1 CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR IN EGYPT

There are two sets of socio-economic variables directly correlated to childlabour. These are 1) status variables and 2) the input and process variables (ElLaithy in Nassar and Al Sayyid, 2003).

1) Status indicators reflect income earning. Typically, these relate to the socio-demographic profile of the households and employed children, such as ageand household composition, educational attainment and employmentstatus, and are therefore referred to as the characteristics of child labour.

11

2

2) Input and process indicators are used to identify the major factors con-tributing to child labour, mainly macroeconomic and social factors.

An important socio-economic factor that affects child labour is the char-acteristic of the household head of the child’s family.

2.1.1 Sex of the household headChild labour is also related to the sex of the head of household – child labour ismore common among households headed by females than males. Table 5 showsthe incidence and distribution of child labour by sex of household heads. Whilethe incidence of child labour among male-headed households is 3.0 per cent, theincidence among female-headed households is significantly higher at 4.6 percent. Nevertheless, since households headed by females make up only a smallminority of the population, child labourers from male-headed households stillmake up more than 86 per cent of total child labour. Moreover, school attendanceis much lower among female-headed households compared to male-headedhouseholds (77 per cent versus 86 percent) and about 18 per cent of children inhouseholds headed by females neither go to school nor work. Given the strongpositive correlation between education and levels of welfare proven in manystudies, the relationship between welfare levels of female-headed householdsand school attendance of children and hence perpetuation of poverty from onegeneration to another can be established.

Table 5. The incidence and distribution of child activity by sex of head of household 1999-2000 (per cent)

Incidence Distribution

Male Female Total Male Female Totalheaded headed headed headed

Student 91.13 8.87 100 84.92 77.30 84.18

Student and employed 82.67 17.33 100 0.13 0.25 0.14

Employed 85.99 14.01 100 3.03 4.62 3.19

Neither student 86.21 13.79 100 11.92 17.83 12.49nor employed

Total 90.34 9.66 100 100 100 100

Source: Calculated by El Laithy using HIECS data for 1999-2000 and CAPMAS.

In qualitative studies, female-headed households are often identified as thepoorest of the poor. However, this has been proved to be very difficult to cor-roborate in quantitative studies. Such studies usually find that the poverty ratesamong female-headed households are more or less equal to the poverty ratesamong male-headed households. Nevertheless, within female-headed house-holds, widows, of low income families, with more than three children are morelikely to be poor. The likelihood of being poor for this group is more than four


12

times the average level in urban areas and more than double the rate in ruralareas. Thus, it is not surprising that the children of poor female-headed house-holds have a higher probability of working and/or not attending school. The find-ing of this study, which demonstrates that child labour is more prevalent amongfemale-headed households than among male-headed households, lends somesupport to the findings from qualitative studies that indeed female-headed house-holds are more vulnerable.

2.1.2 Educational level of the household headStudies in other countries have shown that the higher the level of education ofthe household head, the lower the incidence of child labour. This is also observedin the case of Egypt. Table 6 shows the relationship between the level of educa-tion of the household head and the incidence and distribution of child labour. Thetable clearly demonstrates that the incidence of child labour quickly diminisheswith higher education levels of household heads. Six per cent of children withilliterate heads had to leave school and work, while only 0.1 per cent of childrenwith university graduate heads had to work. In fact, child labour is overrepre-sented among households with illiterate heads. Around 74.4 per cent of all childlabourers come from households headed by persons who are illiterate. Not onlyis child labour is more common among children of illiterate household heads,but children who neither go to school nor work are also common: 17 per cent ofchildren with an illiterate head of household are neither students nor employed.The enrolment rate is also the lowest among these children. There are at leasttwo explanations for this:

1) Household heads with higher levels of education are more likely to be ableto generate higher income for their families. Hence, there is less need forthem to send their children to work.

2) Highly educated parents have a better understanding about the importanceand benefits of education from their own personal experience. As a result,they are likely to put a higher value on their children’s education than par-ents with lower levels of education.

The education of a household head has a significant impact on child labourand the education levels of children. Such a relationship can explain how povertyis transferred from one generation to another. A typical scenario can be describedas follows: Start with a head of household who is illiterate and who has no pro-ductive assets and trace the path through her/his children. The children are verylikely to be malnourished, more a consequence of the ignorance of the parentsthan the unavailability of proper food and the poor sanitary conditions in whichthey live. These children are more prone to diseases, which further diminishestheir physical capabilities. They are likely not to go regularly to school. Even ifthey go, due to the constrained economic conditions of their households, theywill soon drop out to join the labour market. Under these circumstances, manyof them will be illiterate and, in the absence of adequate vocational training facil-ities, have to face the hurdles of life with very poor skills. The cycle is complete

Child labour

13

when the spouse comes from a similar background. Given such a scenario, itseems clear that education is a very powerful, though not the only, instrument inreducing child labour and poverty.

Table 6. The incidence and distribution of child activity by level of education of household heads (per cent)

Illiterate Read Basic Secondary Diploma UniversityTotal& write

Incidence

Student 76.80 86.50 89.08 91.33 90.91 90.78 84.18

Student and employed 0.24 0.13 0.05 0.01 0.06 0.02 0.14

Employed 6.02 2.57 1.52 0.32 0.25 0.14 3.19

Neither student nor employed 16.94 10.80 9.35 8.34 8.78 9.06 12.49

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Distribution

Student 35.90 24.98 8.08 16.25 3.23 11.55 100

Student and employed 70.27 22.97 2.70 1.35 1.35 1.35 100

Employed 74.35 19.63 3.65 1.51 0.23 0.63 100

Neither student nor employed 53.37 21.03 5.72 10.00 2.10 7.78 100

Total 39.36 24.31 7.64 14.98 2.99 10.72 100


The high percentage of children who are “neither student nor employed”illustrates the reality of the household employment that had been mentioned ear-lier in the study. Using the same example of the farm family discussed in sec-tion 1.4, children who work with their parents in the field may be neither countedas employed children nor be registered in school. The same applies for girls whodo not attend school but help their mothers in household work. In reality, thesechildren are household working children.

2.1.3 Poverty level of the household headIt is often argued that child labour is a function of family income. Table 7 showsthe incidence and distribution of child labour by the poverty status of the house-hold. The table indicates that the better off the households, the lower the inci-dence of child labour. Poverty also correlates with lower enrolment rates andhigher percentages in the “neither student nor employed” category. The rela-tionship between poverty, child labour and school attendance can explain the factthat children who come from poor families are more likely to be poor when theybecome adults and have their own families.


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Table 7. The incidence and distribution of child activity by poverty status 1999-2000 (per cent)

Incidence Distribution

Non Poor Total Non Poor Totalpoor poor

Student 79.17 20.83 100 86.35 76.87 84.18

Student and employed 67.11 32.89 100 0.12 0.20 0.14

Employed 58.40 41.60 100 2.41 5.81 3.19

Neither student 68.72 31.28 100 11.12 17.12 12.49nor employed

Total 77.18 22.82 100 100 100 100


2.2 THE PREVALENCE OF CHILD LABOUR IN EGYPT

The child labour phenomenon is related to the characteristics of individual chil-dren as well as to those of their families and the communities where they live.The characteristics considered here are the age and gender of children, thegender and educational attainments of household heads, the socio-economiclevel of households as measured by quintiles of per capita expenditure, urban-rural locations, and sectors of economic activity.

The pattern of child labour in Egypt is far from uniform. It varies fromurban to rural settings and by gender. Discrepancies have been attributed to thefailure to specify the type of work associated with the child. Some researcherstend to define child labour as regular work for which the child is paid a consis-tent wage, while others prefer to expand the definition to include occasionalwork or part time jobs, or those activities that take place within the family andwhere the child is unpaid (Azzer and Ramzi, 2000). Only two studies (Zibaniand Assaad, 1999) and (Zibani, 2002) adopted a broader definition of work thatcovers domestic work in order to include girls’ work.

Child labour

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Table 8. Estimates of child labour prevalence in Egypt, various surveys 1988-1998

Survey Year Data collection Per cent of period working children

6-14 yrs

Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) 1988 Oct. & Nov. 12.0

Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS) 1995 May & Nov. 2.6

Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 1995 Nov. & Dec. 3.3

Egyptian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 1996 May & June 11.9(EMICS)

Social and Health Status & Educational 1997 mid-March – 14.7Achievement of Adolescents in Egypt (ASCE) mid-Aug.

Egyptian Labour Market Survey (ELMS) 1998 Oct. 6.3

Source: Social Research Centre, AUC (2002).

According to Table 8, estimates of working children aged 6-14 years rangefrom 2.6 per cent to 14.7 per cent. In spite of these evident variations, the esti-mations of the magnitude of child work indicate that it has a substantial weight.A more recent survey (CAPMAS 2000, unpublished) estimated the percentageof working children at 21 per cent, out of which 73 per cent are males.

Table 9 shows the prevalence of working children according to the differ-ent age groups.

Table 9. Estimates of child labour prevalence by age, various surveys 1988-1998

Age LFSS-1988 EMICS-1996 ELMS-1998

6-11 7.2 6.9 3.4

12-14 20.7 17.3 11.4

6-14 11.6 10.4 6.3

Source: Azer and Ramzi (2000).

The table shows that across the various surveys the highest rates of chil-dren’s involvement in work belong to the second age group of 12-14 years.

The available data show that there has been a significant decline in chil-dren’s work over the period during 1988-1998 (Table 10). Comparing the resultsof two surveys, namely the Labour Force Sample Survey 1988 (LFSS) and theEgyptian Labour Market Survey 1998 (ELMS), clearly demonstrates that theparticipation rates among children aged 6-14 years fell from 18.5 per cent in1988 to 7.1 per cent in 1998. As for those children in the older age group (12-14years), the participation rates fell from 32 per cent to 13 per cent over the sameperiod. It is interesting to note that in both age groups the decrease in participa-tion rates remains much slower for girls than for boys (Zibani, 2002).


16

Table 10. Children’s labour force participation rate by sex and age using the market and extended labour force definitions, 1988-98 (per cent)

Age/gender LFSS 88 ELMS 98 Annual growth rate

6-11 boysMarket labour force N.A. 1.4 N.A.Extended labour force 6.8 1.5 13.8

6-11 girls Market labour force N.A 0.9 N.A.Extended labour force 7.6 5.4 3.3

All Market labour force N.A. 1.2 N.A.Extended labour force 7.2 3.4 7.2

12-14 boys Market labour force N.A 1.2 N.A.Extended labour force 21.3 9.8 7.4

12-14 girls Market labour force N.A. 9.7 N.A.Extended labour force 20.2 12.9 4.4


6-14 boys Market labour force N.A. 4.4 N.A.Extended labour force 11.5 4.5 8.9

6-14 girls Market labour force N.A. 1.8 N.A.Extended labour force 11.6 8.3 3.4


Note: N.A. = Not applicable

Source: LFSS 1988 and ELMS 1998, cited in Zibani and Assaad (1999).

Table 10 clearly indicates that there are substantial differences betweenboth definitions in girls’ participation rates, confirming that girls are predomi-nantly working as unpaid family labour and mainly in subsistence activities. Thecomparison of estimates across the two surveys using any of the outlined defi-nitions highlights a strong gender bias in child employment.

A national survey on Egyptian adolescents (10-19 years old) shows thatone in every two males and one in every six females are engaged in economicactivities. The survey further shows that girls constitute one-third of unpaidemployment but only one-fifth of paid employment (Ibrahim et al., 2000).

Child labour

17

2.3 DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD LABOUR IN EGYPT

Turning to the incidence of child labour and school attendance across urban andrural areas, Tables 11a and 11b reveal a rural bias in child labour activities. Thereare twice as many working children in rural areas as in urban areas, possiblyreflecting the use of children in agriculture.

Table 11a. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by sex and areas 1999-2000 (per cent)

URBAN RURAL TOTAL

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Student 49.94 50.06 100 52.46 47.54 100 51.51 48.49 100

Student and 83.33 16.67 100 96.49 3.51 100 92.11 7.89 100employed

Employed 88.35 11.65 100 75.55 24.45 100 78.16 21.84 100

Neither student 47.49 52.51 100 37.40 62.60 100 40.95 59.05 100nor employed

Total 50.35 49.65 100 51.54 48.46 100 51.1 48.9 100


Table 11b. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by sexand areas 1999-2000 (per cent)

URBAN RURAL TOTAL

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Student 85.45 86.88 86.16 84.53 81.45 83.04 84.86 83.47 84.18

Student 0.15 0.03 0.09 0.31 0.01 0.17 0.25 0.02 0.14and employed

Employed 3.10 0.41 1.77 5.88 2.02 4.01 4.87 1.42 3.19

Neither student 11.30 12.68 11.99 9.28 16.52 12.79 10.01 15.09 12.49nor employed

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100


In addition to the rural–urban gap, there also appears to be a gender gap inthe incidence of child labour, although the gap is not nearly as pronounced. Thegender gap is clearer in urban than in rural areas, where more than 88 per centof working children are boys. Boys represent 50 per cent of all children in the 6-14 age group. However, the “neither student nor working” categoryincludes more girls than boys in both areas, but the gender gap is wider in ruralareas. This is partly due to culture bias and the lack of availability of schools.Approximately12.7 per cent of urban girls versus 16.5 per cent of rural girls areneither students nor working.


18

In light of the fact that the illiteracy rate among children aged 12-15 yearsis higher for girls than boys, it would seem that girls who do not go to school inpoor households are kept at home to do domestic work, while boys go to workoutside the home to supplement family income.

While regional differences are clearly observed, girls seem to be at a dis-advantage everywhere. The wealthier regions have fewer working children andhigher school attendance rates than poorer regions. Metropolitan regions havethe lowest percentage of working children and the Upper Rural region has thehighest (1.8 per cent vs. 4.5 per cent). Children in the Upper Rural region aremore likely to neither work nor go to school than in other regions. The gendergap in this region is also the widest. Here, more than 20 per cent of girls neitherwork nor go to school compared to 10 per cent of boys.

Table 12. Incidence of child activity by sex and region 1999-2000 (per cent)

REGION Male Female Total

Metropolitan Student 84.02 85.40 84.71

Student and employed 0.05 0.03 0.04

Employed 2.98 0.56 1.78

Neither student nor employed 12.95 14.01 13.47

Total 100 100 100

Lower Egypt Urban Student 87.02 87.80 87.41


Employed 3.50 0.42 1.95


Total 100 100 100

Lower Egypt Rural Student 85.76 85.67 85.72


Employed 5.54 1.65 3.62


Total 100 100 100

Upper Egypt Urban Student 85.54 87.86 86.67

Student and employed 0.20 0.10

Employed 3.02 0.24 1.96


Total 100 100 100

Upper Egypt Rural Student 83.25 76.77 80.16


Employed 6.32 2.47 4.48


Total 100 100 100


Child labour

19

This gender pattern of child labour showing a higher tendency for boys towork compared with girls is consistent with the findings from two recent sur-veys: the ASCE6 of the Population Council in 1997 and the Demographic andHealth Survey carried out by the Ministry of Health in 2000. In these surveys theincidence of child labour is also higher for boys than it is for girls.

2.3.1 Regional distributionWith regard to the distribution of working children according to location(urban/rural), it is widely known that the child activity rates are substantiallyhigher in rural areas. One possible explanation is the greater availability ofschools in urban areas. In addition, it is well known that Egyptian harvests attractlarge numbers of women and children. Available data indicate that child labourfor the age group 6-14 is widely spread in rural areas (83 per cent) compared toonly 17 per cent in urban areas (CAPMAS, 2000).

In addition to the usual urban/rural division, variations in children’s labourforce participation are apparent among regions. Table 13 clearly shows that ruralUpper Egypt has a higher incidence of child labour (11.3 per cent) comparedwith other regions.

Table 13. Children’s labour force participation rate by region1998 (per cent)

Region

Age/ Greater Alex/ Urban Urban Rural Rural Total gender Cairo Suez lower upper lower upper

6-11Boys 0.4 1.2 0.8 3.8 0.8 2.7 1.5Girls 0.3 0.0 1.7 4.6 6.4 9.6 5.4All 0.4 0.6 1.2 3.8 3.4 6.0 3.4

12-14Boys 3.0 4.0 7.3 8.6 10.1 14.6 9.8Girls 2.1 0.9 5.7 6.8 13.3 28.2 12.9All 2.5 2.3 6.5 7.7 11.7 20.8 11.4

6-14Boys 1.3 2.2 3.4 4.9 4.0 7.1 4.5Girls 1.0 0.4 3.4 5.4 9.0 16.0 8.3All 1.2 1.3 3.4 5.1 6.4 11.3 6.3

Source: ELMS 1998, cited in Zibani and Assaad (1999).

In rural areas, the majority (65 per cent) of economically active childrenare engaged in agricultural activities such as picking cotton. In urban areas, thepredominant sectors employing male children are factory work, commerce andservices. For females, the most important sector is services (Mostapha, 2000).


20

6 The ASCE is a household and adolescent survey that was conducted by the PopulationCouncil in Egypt between March and August 1997.

2.3.2 Economic activity and type of employmentThe latest World Bank report on poverty in Egypt indicates that poverty variesaccording to sector and type of employment. Those working in agriculture andconstruction have a high chance of being poor, as do seasonal and occasionalworkers. Thus, it is expected that the incidence and distribution of child labourwould also be higher in these categories.

Since child labour is mostly a rural phenomenon, it is not surprising thatmost of child labour is found within households whose heads work in agricul-ture as Table 14 indicates. Also, child labour is above average in householdswhose heads work in construction or are out of the labour force. Thus, the linkbetween poverty and child labour is again confirmed as these sectors are wherepoverty is most prevalent. Although the incidence of working and studying isvery low in general, most children in this category live in households headed byagricultural workers. It seems that agricultural workers expect their children tohelp them in addition to their studies.

Table 14. The incidence and distribution of child activity by economic activityof household heads (per cent)

Agriculture Manufacturing Construction Trade and Out of Totaland electricity services LF/HF

Incidence

Student 27.1 12.19 6.53 46.54 7.65 100

Student and employed 68.42 3.95 3.95 21.05 2.63 100

Employed 49.48 7.01 6.95 27.06 9.5 100

Neither student 34.92 9.9 6.46 36.76 11.97 100nor employed

Total 28.85 11.73 6.53 44.66 8.24 100

Distribution

Student 79.08 87.5 84.17 87.72 78.13 84.18

Student and employed 0.33 0.05 0.08 0.07 0.04 0.14

Employed 5.46 1.9 3.39 1.93 3.67 3.19

Neither student 15.12 10.55 12.36 10.28 18.15 12.49nor employed

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100


2.4 CHARACTERISTICS OF WORKING CHILDREN IN EGYPT

In Egypt, child labour is mostly a rural phenomenon. However, employed chil-dren do not represent a homogeneous group. Gender and location differencescan be observed. Identifying these characteristics is the most important step in

Child labour

21

designing policies for the eradication of child labour, specially the WFCL. Table15 highlights some of the characteristics of employed children, such as theiremployment status, occupation, activity and type of employment. These cate-gories are also disaggregated by gender and location.

Table 15. Characteristics of working children by sex and location1999-2000 (per cent)

Location Gender

Urban Rural Male Female Total

Employment

Status wage earner 71.08 42.70 52.61 33.42 48.53

Self-employed hiring others 0.14 0.14 0.11

Self-employed working alone 1.89 2.17 1.76 3.39 2.11

Unpaid worker 16.49 52.20 41.26 58.22 44.86

Unemployed 10.54 2.80 4.23 4.96 4.39

Sector of Activity

Agriculture 12.01 68.60 50.11 85.83 57.67

Manufacturing and mining 28.53 9.59 14.99 6.81 13.27

Construction 11.11 8.08 10.97 8.65

Trade 35.14 10.87 18.65 3.81 15.51

Services 13.21 2.86 5.28 3.55 4.90

Type of Employment (work stability)

Permanent 69.38 70.95 69.91 73.11 70.59

Temporary 3.52 0.42 1.13 0.52 1.00

Seasonal 0.27 2.09 1.06 4.44 1.78

Occasional 16.26 23.74 23.68 16.97 22.25

Did not specify 10.57 2.79 4.23 4.96 4.38

A. Number of working days

1 day 0.27 0.28 0.21 0.26 0.22

2 days 0.81 0.84 0.92 0.52 0.83

3 days 2.43 3.42 3.03 4.18 3.27

4 days 7.03 8.04 8.03 7.31 7.88

5 days 6.76 12.16 12.05 7.31 11.04

6 days 55.68 29.49 40.17 15.14 34.85

7 days 16.49 42.98 31.36 60.31 37.51

Did not specify 10.54 2.80 4.23 4.96 4.38



22

2.4.1 Employment statusIn general, about half of employed children are wage earners (48.5 percent) andhalf are unpaid workers (44.8 percent). Unemployed children represent 4 percent of child labourers.

The urban–rural gap is quite obvious in terms of the employment status ofworking children. In urban areas, 71 per cent of working children are wage earn-ers, while 16 per cent are unpaid workers. Moreover, 10 per cent of child labour(children who work or are willing to work) cannot find a job and hence areunemployed. The picture is somewhat different in rural areas where 52 per centof child workers are unpaid and 42 per cent earn wages. Here only 3 per cent aresaid to be unemployed.

A gender gap also exists. Wage earners are more prevalent among boysthan girls (53 per cent vs. 33 per cent), while unpaid workers represent 58 percent of employed girls compared to 41 per cent of boys. Unemployment is only0.7 per cent higher for girls than boys.

Among boys, activity rates start at a high level at an early age (29 per centalready at age 10) and rise systematically to reach 60 per cent at age 19 (seeTable 16). The ages 11, 14, and 18 are clear transition points: activity ratesincrease by 10 percentage points at each age. These ages do not conform to theage specifications as declared by the Labour Law; rather, they correspond towell-defined transition points in the education system.

Table 16. Per cent of working adolescents by selected background variables (N=9,128)

Boys Girls N

10-14 15-19 10-19 10-14 15-19 10-19

Unpaid employment

Urban 10.5 9.7 10.1 3.6 3.7 3.6 219

Rural 38.5 41.6 39.7 20.5 15.9 18.5 1,550

Urban gov. 5.4 8.3 7 3.2 1.9 2.4 72

Lower Egypt 26.6 33.6 29.8 11.4 12.4 11.9 793

Upper Egypt 39 36.2 38.1 21.6 15.3 19.3 904

Cases in unpaid employment 686 512 1,198 342 229 571

Paid employment

Urban 13.5 29.4 21.6 1 4.8 2.8 358

Rural 11.8 32.3 20.5 4.1 6.7 5.2 632

Urban gov. 6 25.5 17.9 1.2 5.9 3.8 149

Lower Egypt 13.8 33.3 23.3 2.8 8.2 5.2 495

Upper Egypt 13.1 32 19.8 3.8 2.6 3.4 346

Cases in paid employment. 260 541 801 68 121 189

Source: Ibrahim et al. (1999).

Child labour

23

For girls, the profile of activity rates is starkly different. Girls at age 10 areless likely to be economically active than boys at the same age (13 per cent com-pared to 29 per cent). Activity rates among girls increase from 13 per cent to 19per cent throughout adolescence.

The table also highlights the significance of urban–rural as well as regionaldifferentials in engagement in unpaid and paid employment of adolescents byage and gender. Unpaid employment among boys in rural areas is four timeshigher than of that for boys in urban areas (39.7 per cent and 10.1 per centrespectively). Among girls, the level of unpaid employment ranges between4 per cent in urban areas and 19 per cent in rural areas. Unpaid employment inrural areas is higher among younger than older adolescent girls. It is least preva-lent in the urban governorates and most prevalent in Upper Egypt (38.1 per centand 19.3 per cent).

The picture of paid employment differs. Urban–rural differentials arealmost nonexistent except among younger female adolescents. Approximately22 per cent of boys aged 10-19 years in urban areas and 3 per cent of girls areengaged in paid employment. The urban governorates have the lowest paidemployment rates among boys (particularly under 15 years old) while no obvi-ous differences exist between Lower and Upper Egypt, irrespective of age. Thesefindings suggest that there is both a supply of working boys in urban areas ofLower and Upper Egypt and a demand for this supply in the labour market.

2.4.2 Work stabilityMost working children have permanent jobs. Table 17 illustrates that 70 per centof child labourers have permanent jobs and as many as 22 per cent have occa-sional jobs. Very few children work on a temporary or seasonal basis. This pictureis also reflected in both urban and rural areas. However, a higher percentage ofoccasional workers in rural areas (by 7.5 percentage points) can be observed aswell as slightly higher percentage of permanent jobs. Rural areas do not providetemporary jobs, while urban areas provide temporary jobs to 3.5 per cent of childworkers who reside in urban areas.

Moreover, as indicated by Table 17, girls are more likely to obtain perma-nent and seasonal jobs than boys, where differences in those types of work areabout three percentage points. Working girls are less likely to work as occasionalworkers than boys: 24 per cent of working boys have this type of employmentvs. 17 per cent of working girls.

2.4.3 Number of working daysAs highlighted by Table 17, a majority of working children work six or sevendays a week. As agricultural activity is more common among rural residents andamong girls, rural working children are more likely to work seven days a week,particularly girls. The opposite observation is true for children in the six-day-a-week category. Here, urban working children and boys are more heavily repre-sented than their rural counterparts. This points to the especially difficult condi-tions that rural working children suffer.


24

Table 17. Characteristics of working children by sex and location 1999-2000 (per cent)

Location Sex Total

Urban Rural Male Female

Employment status

Wage earner 71.08 42.70 52.61 33.42 48.53

Self-employed hiring others 0.14 0.14 0.11

Self-employed working alone 1.89 2.17 1.76 3.39 2.11

Unpaid worker 16.49 52.20 41.26 58.22 44.86

Unemployed 10.54 2.80 4.23 4.96 4.39

Sector of Activity

Agriculture 12.01 68.60 50.11 85.83 57.67

Manufacturing and mining 28.53 9.59 14.99 6.81 13.27

Construction 11.11 8.08 10.97 8.65

Trade 35.14 10.87 18.65 3.81 15.51

Services 13.21 2.86 5.28 3.55 4.90

Type of Employment (work stability)

Permanent 69.38 70.95 69.91 73.11 70.59

Temporary 3.52 0.42 1.13 0.52 1.00

Seasonal 0.27 2.09 1.06 4.44 1.78

Occasional 16.26 23.74 23.68 16.97 22.25

Did not specify 10.57 2.79 4.23 4.96 4.38

A. Number of working days per week

1 day 0.27 0.28 0.21 0.26 0.22

2 days 0.81 0.84 0.92 0.52 0.83

3 days 2.43 3.42 3.03 4.18 3.27

4 days 7.03 8.04 8.03 7.31 7.88

5 days 6.76 12.16 12.05 7.31 11.04

6 days 55.68 29.49 40.17 15.14 34.85

7 days 16.49 42.98 31.36 60.31 37.51

Did not specify 10.54 2.80 4.23 4.96 4.38


2.4.4 Working conditionsAll of the studies reviewed drew attention to the severe working conditions ofchildren in terms of long working hours, lack of safety equipment and standards,and abusive treatment in the workplace. However, gender was not taken into con-sideration in their analysis.

Child labour

25

As for working hours, around 58 per cent of all working adolescents worksix hours per day, 17 per cent work 7-8 hours, and 25 per cent work 9 hours andabove. Age, gender, and geographic location affect the number of working hours.Male adolescents aged 15-19 residing in urban areas are more likely to worklonger hours compared to their female counterparts and to younger adolescentsresiding in rural areas or Upper Egypt (Ibrahim et al., 2000).

Another study (Zabani, 2002) indicates that in market employment chil-dren of both sexes work considerably long hours (42.4 hours per week). Thegender differentials in the average number of hours spent in the market are sub-stantial. Girls engaged in market employment worked on average 47.6 hours perweek, compared to 40.7 per cent hours for boys.

It is interesting to note that the gender patterns are inverted when consid-ering the location of residence. For example, rural boys spent an average of41.8 hours per week on market work, compared to 39.5 hours for urban boys.Urban girls spent an average of 51 hours per week, while rural girls spent45.7 hours. In addition to the long working hours of girls employed in marketwork, nearly 32 per cent are doing household chores at home as well.

The gender differentials among children aged 12-14 are quite substantialand hours worked per week are higher for girls than for boys. In fact, the meanfigures are 54 hours for girls and 41 hours for boys. Also, in both urban and rurallocations, the hours per week that are usually worked are nearly similar, aver-aging 42 hours.

2.4.5 Income of working childrenThe reasons for children participating in the labour market are mostly related toeconomic hardship. Consequently, many children enter the labour market eitherto support their families or to pay for education. With a light workload, enteringthe labour market and attending school can be compatible.

On average, earned income per working child amounted to LE 857 perannum, which represents only one fifth of the average earned income of thewhole population. Large gender and location gaps can be observed in terms ofaverage earned income. Average wages of boys are more than double those ofgirls and differences are wider in urban areas than in rural areas. In addition,rural wages for working children are lower than in urban areas and location gapis wider among boys than among girls. The lowest average wages are for girlsin rural areas. This can be explained by the fact that most of girls in rural areaswork in agriculture, which is poorly paid.

Income of working children represents 15.8 per cent of their householdincome. Households depend on their boys’ income more than on girls’ income,as the share of boys’ income in their household income is 23.6 per cent. The cor-responding figure for girls is 8 per cent. This is also true if figures are disaggre-gated by location. However, differences in the share of child income in totalhousehold income exist. In urban areas, girls’ contribution to total income is assmall as 5 per cent, compared to 26.3 per cent for boys. The gender gap in thisrespect in rural areas is much smaller. The gender gap in rural areas is about ten


26

percentage points, while it exceeds 21 percentage points in urban areas. Thishighlights the importance of children’s income for supplementing householdincome. Therefore, to make child labour eradication sustainable, policy-makersneed to focus on poverty alleviation and offer poor households incentives, eitherin cash or in kind, to send their children to school.

Table 18. Average earned income of working children and their contribution to household income, 1999-2000

Average (LE) Contribution (%)

Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total

Male 1470.83 893.25 1182.04 26.34 20.92 23.63

Female 642.34 420.87 531.61 4.95 11.00 7.98

Total 1056.59 657.06 856.82 15.64 15.96 15.80

Source: Calculated by El-Laithy using HIECS data for 1999-2000 and CAPMAS.

2.5 THE NATIONAL RESPONSE

As noted in the Introduction, the political commitment to children’s rights is verystrong in Egypt. The Egyptian government has ratified the two major ILOConventions concerning child labour. In 1999 it ratified the ILO Minimum AgeConvention, 1973 (No. 138), which sets minimum age for employment at no lessthan 14 years. In 2002 it ratified the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Con-vention, 1999 (No. 182), which calls for immediate and effective measuresto secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labourin Egypt.

2.5.1 Reforming labour laws and regulationsOn the national level, several laws have been issued to regulate and protect therights of children and their well-being in accordance with the international childrights laws and conventions that Egypt has ratified. Several amendments havealso been made to child labour laws that date back as far as 1959.

These pre-existing child labour laws include the following:

• Article 124 of the Labour Act no. 91 of 1959 states that no child under theage of 12 may be employed under any circumstances and it defines theminimum age at 15 years for some hazardous industries.

• Labour Law 137 of 1981 states that children between the ages of 12 and15 are allowed to work 6 hours a day, but not after 7:00 pm.

• Decrees No. 12 and 13 issued in 1982 by the Ministry of Manpower andVocational Training state various hazardous jobs and industries where theemployment of the children under 15 is prohibited. These jobs include:

Child labour

27

working in bakeries, refineries, cement factories, gas factories, carrying ofheavy weights and operating heavy machinery. Children under 17 years oldare also prohibited from work in quarry mines, occupations using metal-dissolving ovens, work in bomb and fireworks industries, glass making,welding, alcohol making, and tanneries.

• The Unified Labour Law (ratified in June 2003) as well as the Decree no. 118of 2003 prohibits children below 16 years from working in 44 occupations,including agricultural activities that are hazardous to children based on thedefinition of hazardous activities in ILO Convention No. 182.

It is worth noting that before 1996, there was an inconsistency between theEducation Law 139/1981 and the Labour Law 136/1981 in Egypt. The formerdefined education as mandatory up to age 14, while the latter legalized workstarting at age 12.

In 1996, a new child law (Law number 12 for 1996) was passed regulatingchild labour and rectifying this inconsistency.

The main restrictions covered in the law are:

1. It is prohibited to employ children under the age of 14 years and providetraining before 12 years.

2. Children aged 12-14 are allowed to be employed in seasonal jobs that donot harm their health or impact their schooling only with a decree by thegovernor and with the approval of the Minister of Education.

3. Children should not work more than six hours per day;

4. Nametags with photos must be provided that indicate the place of work andthe tag should be certified and stamped by the labour office.

The Executive Regulations Number 3452 for 1997, articles 136 to 151,give more detailed explanation regarding the type of work allowed for children,rest periods, occupational safety precautions, milk provision, ventilation in thework area, allowable weights that a child may carry, and the role of the labouroffice in undertaking continuous monitoring activities.

The Labour Law Number 137 for 1981 was replaced by the Unified LabourLaw in 2003. Article 99 of the Unified Labour Law states that children shouldnot be allowed to work before the age of fourteen, or before their completion ofcompulsory education, whichever is later. However they may be trained oncethey reach twelve years of age. In those aspects, it will be in total conformancewith the Child Law Number 12 for 1996.

2.5.2 The focus on education in the IPEC Country Programmein Egypt

Although child labour has not been fully mainstreamed in the Egyptian educa-tion policy, IPEC has attempted through its action programmes to increase theschool enrolment, retention and performance of working children. Education hasbeen a core component in IPEC action programmes. Ensuring that children arein school and not at work is a basic IPEC objective. In this regard, efforts to elim-


28

inate child labour have involved responding to the educational needs and con-cerns of working children to support them in overcoming the obstacles they facewith regard to schooling and to develop replicable and sustainable models oncombating child labour through formal education, vocational training and non-formal education.

IPEC has provided, upstream policy assistance, which contributes to thecreation of an enabling environment that will allow for the integration of the spe-cific requirements of working children into decision-making on education poli-cies, programmes and resource allocation.

In addition, through a programme in association with several UnitedNations agencies, IPEC contributed to enhancing the coherence and consistencybetween action addressing the elimination of child labour and Education for All(EFA) goals.

The training of teachers, counsellors, and school principals to equip themwith the understanding, knowledge and technical skills necessary to increaseworking children’s educational retention and performance rates has also beenconsidered crucial.

In recognition of the need to remove all of the socio-cultural obstacles thatprevent children from enrolling in school, IPEC efforts have included a widerange of advocacy and awareness-raising measures to reach out to parents andencourage them educate their children and make full use of available services.IPEC has also focused on advocacy and community mobilization efforts inregard to education policies and laws. Community discussions that foster opendialogue and collective understanding about child labour and education issueshave offered important opportunities to develop more positive values regardingrelations between child labour and education.

Child labour

29

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN EGYPT

3.1 OVERVIEW

The Egyptian Constitution stipulates that education is a right granted by theState. All Egyptians are entitled to free education at all levels regardless ofgender, geographic or socio-economic status. Education laws issued in 1981 andrevised in 1988 govern the implementation of this constitutional right.

Since the 1960s, primary education has been compulsory. In the 1990s,three years of preparatory education (to age 15) have also become compulsory(Law No.139), bringing the number of compulsory years to nine.

The formal education system in Egypt comprises two pre-universityphases: the compulsory phase of basic education (six years of primary and threeyears of preparatory) followed by three years of non-compulsory secondary edu-cation. Secondary education is divided into general and vocational secondary(commercial, industrial, agrarian). In parallel to the general education system,both public and private, is a religious education system introduced and super-vised by Al-Azhar. This system maintains the same three phases.

National exams are taken at four stages in the 12 years:

1. 3rd Primary (at 9 years of age)

2. 6th Primary (at 12 years of age)

3. 3rd Preparatory (15 years of age)

4. 2nd and 3rd Secondary (at 17 and 18 years of age)

There are 26,177 schools in Egypt, about 88 per cent of which are devotedto basic education. The vast majority of these schools (92 per cent) arepublic/government schools, the remaining are financed by the private sector.Most Egyptian children attend public schools. In 1998, nearly 90 per cent of thechildren were in public schools, 8.4 per cent were in private schools, and 2 percent were in religious schools.

In the late 1980s the government embarked on an ambitious programme toreform education by improving the quality, availability and efficiency of basic

31

3

education. Within the framework of government policies, appropriate laws wereformulated and girls’ education became a national priority. The second reforminitiated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) was supported through an increasein the government’s budget for education expenditure from 12 per cent in 1990-91 to 19 per cent in 1995-96. In the 1990s the MOE supported several innova-tive initiatives to enrol hard-to-reach groups and to supplement both its own andUSAID-supported new school construction. The two most important were One-Classroom schools and UNICEF-supported Community Schools, which are dis-cussed in a later section.

The overall condition of education system can be a powerful influence onthe supply of labour. The failure of the education system has led many parentsto view work as the preferred option for their children because education is nolonger the clear path towards obtaining a better income and a decent job.

3.2 EDUCATION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POOR

Education is the strongest correlate of poverty, insofar as it determines the accessof individuals to income earning opportunities through employment. Educationwas found to be a major explanatory factor for the observed patterns of poverty.The correlation between education and welfare has important implications forpolicy, particularly in terms of the distributional impact. This section will dis-cuss the educational characteristics of the poor in terms of educational attain-ment and school attendance.

In urban areas, about 25.7 per cent of the poor population are illiterate,33.2 per cent have basic education or below and only 1.9 per cent have univer-sity education and above. The corresponding figures for rural areas are 35.3 percent, 25.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent. Poverty is highest and most severe for illit-erate individuals, with poverty measures in urban areas being higher than in ruralareas. Evidence further points to the existence of a strong relationship betweenthe education of the head of the household and that of the household members.At the national level, 74 per cent of illiterate individuals belonged to householdswhose head was illiterate. The relationship was stronger in urban than in ruralareas. Moreover, school enrolment of school-age children is considerably lowerfor poor households compared to the non-poor. In urban areas, the percentage ofschool-age children not enrolled was 12.4 per cent for the poor compared to4.1 per cent for the non-poor. In rural areas, the corresponding figures were27.6 per cent and 14.9 per cent. Consequently, the ratio of poor working chil-dren is higher than the non-poor (3.7 per cent and 1.6 percent), which indicatesthe significant role of working children as a source of income for their families.

School enrolment can be thought of as an interaction of two factors: supplyand demand. In other words, low school attendance is in part due to family deci-sions based on the opportunity and cost of schooling (demand for schooling) andin part on the availability and quality of school facilities (supply of schooling).Neither side should be neglected when analysing school attendance patterns.


32

The information collected in the CAPMAS 2000 HIECS provides someinsight into the considerations that underlie decisions made at the householdlevel, particularly at different levels of welfare. One of the most important ques-tions concerning the nature of poverty in any county is whether the poor consti-tute the same group of the people over long periods of time, or whether there isa large amount of entry in and exit from the ranks of the poor over years. Anequally important issue is whether or not children who come from poor familiesare likely to become poor adults with families of their own as discussed in Chap-ter 2. Given the strong positive correlation between education and levels of wel-fare proven in the previous section, the relationship between welfare levels andschool attendance of children is of particular interest.

School attendance of poor children is significantly lower than the overallaverage in both urban and rural areas. The incidence of poor children not attend-ing school was 12.4 per cent in urban areas and 27.6 per cent rural areas, com-pared to 4.1 per cent and 14.9 per cent for non-poor children. Non-poor childrenmay not be attending school due to failure or social barriers. This is especiallytrue for girls. Differences in school attendance are more pronounced betweenregions – school attendance in rural areas is generally lower than in urban areas.Also, differences between the poor and non-poor within each region are verylarge at about 10 percentage points. More specifically, 13.3 per cent of poor chil-dren do not attend schools in the Metropolitan region, compared to 3 per cent ofthe non-poor. School attendance is the lowest in the Upper Rural region. How-ever, the Upper Rural region also exhibits the second highest incidence, depthand severity of poverty. Coupled with the premise that education is positivelycorrelated with household welfare, it appears that the Upper Rural region in gen-eral is in need of targeted efforts aimed at enhancing education opportunities.

The negative relationship between poverty and education also means a neg-ative relationship between education and child labour. Thus, any movementtowards abolishing child labour in Egypt requires the facilitation of educationand its accessibility to all Egyptian children.

It is a well-known fact that the effective abolition of child labour is linkedto free, quality education. Accessible, good quality educational opportunitieshelp keep children out of unacceptable forms of work. However, the inefficiencyof public education system and the absence of quality schools and training pro-grammes tend to reduce incentives for children to stay in school. Child labour inturn prevents children attending and benefiting from school (ILO, 2002). InEgypt, the link between the public educational system and policies and childlabour are clear.

3.3 EDUCATION AND THE POOL FOR CHILD LABOUR

While some children may combine school and work, education is the best wayto keep children out of the labour market. It is therefore important that the edu-cational system absorb all school-age children and retains them.

The education system in Egypt

33

In Egypt, significant progress has been achieved in school enrolment overthe past few decades and, according to the apparent intake rate (AIR), universalcoverage of basic education has been attained for both boys and girls (Table 19).There is still a narrow gender gap, however.

Table 19. Apparent intake rate by sex (per cent)

Year Total Male Female Gender gap*

1975 72.7 83.9 60.5 72.7

1977 91.4 93.2 89.5 96.0

1998 99.0 100.2 97.6 97.4

1999 104.3 105.9 102.6 96.8

* Proportion of females to males (calculated).

Source: UNESCO (2000).

The net intake rate (NIR), which is more accurate, shows that universalcoverage of basic education has neither been achieved for boys nor girls andfemale access still lags behind that of males (Table 20).

Table 20. Net intake rate by sex (per cent)


1997 80.2 81.1 78.6 96.9

1998 86.8 88.3 85.2 96.4

1999 90.7 92.4 88.9 96.2



The gross enrolment rate (GER) and net enrolment rate (NER) in primaryeducation both witnessed an observed improvement. However, there are moregirls than boys out of school. The NER in primary education for girls was still89.4 per cent in 1999 while it was 95.5 per cent for boys, which means that thereare still many girls with no access to school (Tables 21 and 22).

Table 21. Gross enrolment rates by sex in primary education (per cent)


1996 97.5 101.2 93.4 92.2

1997 98.5 102.0 94.3 92.4

1998 99.6 102.1 94.3 92.3

1999 101.5 104.7 95.5 91.2




34

Table 22. Net enrolment rates by sex in primary education (per cent)


1996 91.0 93.9 87.5 93.1

1997 91.7 94.3 88.8 94.1

1998 91.8 94.1 88.3 93.8

1999 93.3 95.5 89.4 93.6



The gender gap in the primary education is widest in rural Upper Egypt,reflecting mainly the extent of girls’ deprivation from education. In his study ofgender gap indicators in primary education, Fergany (2001) demonstrates thatthe highest percentage of gender gap is concentrated in seven governorates inUpper Egypt in the following order: Menia, Assiut, Giza, Beni-Suif, Sohag,Fayoum, and Al-Behaira.

Despite both the progress in expanding enrolment and the increase in theminimum age of work from 12 to 14 in 1996 to bring it in line with compulsoryeducation, a sizeable proportion of Egyptian children continue to be deprived ofeducation. While the level of dropout in the Egyptian education system is rela-tively small in the initial years of schooling, dropouts rise significantly aftergrade 5, which coincides with the termination of the first phase of basic educa-tion (the primary stage), and after grade 8 (the preparatory stage). On average,l3 per cent of pupils in primary schools do not continue to the second phase ofbasic education. Male and female dropout rates are roughly equal until grade 6,but a larger proportion of boys than girls drop out in the subsequent grades(UNICEF, 2002).

Table 23. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by poverty status 1999-2000 (per cent)

Student Student and employed Employed Neither student nor employed Total

Non-poor 86.35 0.12 2.41 11.12 100

Poor 76.87 0.20 5.81 17.12 100

Total 84.18 0.14 3.19 12.49 100

Source: Calculated from the HICES in CAPMAS (2000).

Tables 24 and 25 present the percentage of children who drop out bygender and educational level. The data reveal a general decline in dropout ratesamong both boys and girls. However, it is evident that dropout rates are higherin the second phase of basic education (preparatory level).


35

Table 24. Dropouts in primary education by sex

School year Boys Girls Total

Enrolled Dropout % Enrolled Dropout % Enrolled Dropout %

1990-91 3 532 216 102 518 2.90 1 264 707 82 205 6.50 4 796 923 184 723 3.851991-92

2000-01 3 774 009 41 739 1.11 3 368 118 20 460 0.61 7 142 127 62 189 0.872001-02

Source: Data obtained from the Ministry of Education (1996-97 – 2000-01).

Table 25. Dropouts in preparatory education by sex

School year Boys Girls Total

Enrolled Dropout % Enrolled Dropout % Enrolled Dropout %

1990-91 1 532 052 176 794 11.45 1 241 437 123 945 9.91 2 773 489 299 839 10.811991-92

2000-01 1 567 167 56 774 3.62 1 391 828 32 566 2.34 2 958 995 89 340 3.022001-02

Source: Data obtained from the Ministry of Education (1996-97 – 2000-01).

In the national survey of Egyptian adolescents (Ibrahim et al., 2000), theresults show that one-quarter of the boys and one-third of girls aged 10-19 areout of school. Regional variations are also significant; over one-third of adoles-cents in rural areas, one third in urban Upper Egypt, 22 per cent in urban LowerEgypt, and 19 per cent in the urban governorates are out of school.

3.3.1 The relationship between school and workIn Egypt, research on the link between education and child labour has emergedrecently. The conventional tendency for the research on education and childlabour has been to segregate the two issues. That education has been included instudies on child labour stems from assumptions regarding the effective role ofeducation in preventing child labour. In other studies, the deterioration of theeducation system was included as one of the causes of child labour.

However, the assumption that compulsory education is a magic bullet foreradicating child labour has proven to be exaggerated. A large proportion of chil-dren, especially in developing countries, combine school and work. Untilrecently, survey data was not available for analysing child work and schoolingsimultaneously. Furthermore, most studies have presented child work andschooling as mutually exclusive categories.

In reality, the relationship between work and school is more complex anddepends to a great extent on how “work” is being defined. The ELMS data(1998) clearly show that there is a large discrepancy between those who are not


36

in school and those who are working. One plausible approach is to look at chil-dren who combine work with schooling and also to consider those who are doingneither. Table 26 gives the breakdown of the activity status of children ages 6-14by sex according to the two labour force definitions; namely the standard def-inition and broad definition.

Table 26. School and work using standard and broad definition by sex (per cent), 6-14 years old

Boys Girls Total

Standard definition At school 90.55 85.30 87.98

At work 2.94 2.46 2.70

Both 1.59 0.44 1.03

Neither 4.92 11.80 8.29

Broad definition At school 90.55 64.29 77.72

At work 2.94 10.61 6.69

Both 1.59 21.45 11.29

Neither 4.92 3.65 4.3

Note: questions on domestic work were asked only for girls’, boys’ activity rate.

Using the two definitions are the same.

Source: ELMS 1998 cited in Zibani (2002).

The table shows a very strong decrease in the proportion of children cate-gorized as “at school” and “neither” when using the broad definition thatincludes housework, compensated by the increase in the rates of those classifiedas “at work” or “both”, which vary considerably across sex.

The interaction between child work and schooling has many implicationsfor the future of these children. Children who are economically active are lesslikely to be enrolled in school. In Egypt, 96 per cent of the 6-14 year-olds whoare not economically active were enrolled in school, while only 70 per cent ofactive children were in school (Zibani and Assaad, 2002).

When comparing the definitions of work among children aged 6-14 in thecategory “at school”, the results are very striking. In fact, while the gender gapwas only 6 per cent with the standard definition, gender gap became highly sig-nificant when using the broad definition (25 per cent).

Another interesting result is the “neither” category. While girls represented70 per cent of this category when using the standard definition, this total droppedto 42 per cent when adopting the broad definition. For boys the prevalence of“neither” is more likely to reflect unemployment and inactivity, whereas girlswill continue to be categorized as “neither” even though they may be burdenedwith domestic chores and home-based work.

The decrease in the categories of “neither” and “at school” seems to be theresult of the rise of the two categories of “at work” and “both”. Adding domes-tic work, the activity rate of girls increases quite significantly, reaching 11 per


37

cent. Many children who work continue to attend school. When using the stan-dard definition, the “both” category is the smallest with no gender gap. In con-trast, by adding domestic work girls’ rates increase substantially, reaching 22 percent, or a widening of the gender gap by 20 per cent (Zibani, 2002).

Interesting findings emerged when considering the three definitions ofwork separately. Under the market work definition, almost 70 per cent of thechildren were not attending school. For working girls this figure reaches 90 percent, while for boys it was 63 per cent. With the standard definitions that includesubsistence work, a large proportion of girls (42 per cent) did not attend school.Girls engaged in domestic work continue to attend school (75 per cent).

Findings from the 1997 National Survey on Adolescents (Ibrahim et al.,2000) show that more than one-forth of working males (10-19 years) are inschool, and 36 per cent of those out of school are engaged in unpaid employment.The situation for girls emphasizes the relationship even more. Out-of-schoolgirls are three times as likely to be involved in unpaid employment compared togirls enrolled in school (22.6 per cent versus 8 per cent). Boys who are notenrolled in school are six times as likely to be engaged in gainful employmentcompared to their in school counterparts (53.5 per cent and 8.7 per cent respec-tively).

Table 27. Adolescents in unpaid and paid employment by sexand educational status (per cent)

Boys Girls Total number

10-14 15-19 10-19 10-14 15-19 10-19

Unpaid employment

In school 28.3 23.3 26.5 9.8 4.7 8.0 1 086

Out of school 33.9 36.9 35.9 30.7 17.7 22.6 683

# of cases 686 512 1,198 342 229 571

Paid employment

In school 6.2 13.5 8.7 0.7 1.5 1.0 324

Out of school 45.0 58.6 53.5 11.1 10.0 10.9 666

# of cases 260 541 801 68 121 189

Source: Ibrahim et al. (2000), p. 103.

Table 28 shows that 7 to 10 per cent of working boys never attended school,compared to 2 per cent of non-working boys. Comparable figure for girls are 37per cent to 42 per cent among working girls and 11 per cent among their non-working counterparts.


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Table 28. Educational attainment by sex, age and work status (per cent)

Work status 10-14 years 15-19 years 10-19 yearsFinished primary school Finished basic Education Never attended school

Boys

Non-working 79.0 92.9 1.6

Unpaid work 74.0 65.4 7.1

Paid work 55.9 50.1 10.4

Girls

Non-working 74.1 71.3 11.2

Unpaid work 47.8 30.5 37.0

Paid work 25.2 37.7 41.7

Source: Ibrahim et al. (2000), p. 103.

While unpaid employment among boys does not compromise their educa-tional attainment compared to their nonworking counterparts, unpaid unem-ployment among girls and paid employment among both genders are detrimen-tal. Only 56 per cent of boys working for cash completed primary educationcompared to 79 per cent of the nonworking group. Comparable figures for girlsare 25 per cent and 74 per cent among those working for cash and those notworking, respectively.

Among older groups (15-19), 93 per cent of nonworking boys and 71 percent of nonworking girls have completed primary education, compared to 66 percent of boys and 30 per cent of girls in unpaid employment and 50 per cent ofboys and 38 per cent of girls in paid employment.

3.4 THE EFFECT OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM POLICIES AND PROBLEMS ON CHILD LABOUR

The Egyptian educational system is currently beset with problems that para-doxically render it not only a solution to the child labour problem but a cause ofit in some cases.

3.4.1 Lack of enforcement of compulsory education regulationsAlthough there are regulations for penalizing parents who do not send their chil-dren to school, fines are minimal (only LE 10 for not sending a child to school)and the regulations are not properly enforced. Therefore they have little deter-rent effect and are of little value in keeping children in school.

3.4.2 Absence of policies to address dropoutDropout is the second major factor – after non-entering school – that adds to thesupply of child labour. There are no education policies to address dropout in the


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sense that there are no specific policies to address the major causes. The MOE’s“One Classroom Project”, which was instituted in 1993, only assists those whohave already dropped out.

3.4.3 Direct and indirect costs of schooling and low return to education

Several studies, Wahba (2000), Zibani (2002) and El-Sayad (2001), observedthat the family decision regarding children’s schooling or employment is typi-cally a rational decision based on comparison of the discounted future stream ofthe benefits accruing to the child and/or to the household from the child’s edu-cation relative to the opportunity cost of the child’s time, which is his/her pro-ductivity at work or at home plus the direct cost of education. Because parentshave considerable control over their children, their perception of the value ofschool is the main determinant of child attendance.

In general, the factors affecting school or work participation seem toimpact boys and girls in the same direction; however, they are stronger in thecase of the girls.

The cost of education is a barrier that keeps children out of school and,hence, increases the probability of child labour. Even free education withouttuition fees may require spending for supplies and transportation. The amountof money required to keep children in school can be quite substantial, especiallyfor families with more than one school-age child (ILO, 2002).

Direct costs are not the only expenses parents must consider in their deci-sion to send their children to school. Indirect costs or opportunity costs are animportant factor for keeping children out of school. Despite the fact that educa-tion in Egypt is constitutionally free of charge, free education at all levels hasbecome a false entitlement, especially for the poor. This is mainly due to theemergence and spread of private tutoring as a compensation for the inefficiencyand low quality of public education, the private-groups tuition system in schools,the “modest” user charges instituted by MOE since the eighties, and the risingcosts of basic school supplies (clothes, books and stationary, transportation, etc.)(El Baradei, 2000).

It is worth noting that the increase in the household cost of educationduring the period 1981-82 to 1990-91 was far more sizeable for the poor in bothurban and rural areas than for the non-poor (El Baradei, 1994). From 1990-91to 1995-96 in both urban and rural areas and for the poor and the non-poor alike,education was the expenditure category that witnessed the highest percentageincrease in real terms (El Laithy et al., 1999). This was also the case in 1999-2000(Table 29).


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Table 29. Average expenditure on education per child by poverty status of household (LE)

Fees Books Private Other Stationary Private Transport Uniforms Per cent for tutor books Group education

out of total expenditure

Non-poor 52.19 4.98 61.14 9.83 22.15 11.88 19.47 34.38 3.72

Poor 16.83 1.51 14.07 1.86 11.24 4.20 5.74 13.68 2.97

Total 14.34 4.21 50.69 8.06 19.73 10.17 16.42 29.78 3.65

Source: Calculated from the HICES 1999- 2000 (CAPMAS).

Rising costs were a major reason for the non-enrolment of the poor in edu-cation (15 per cent in urban areas, 19 per cent in rural areas, and 18 per cent fortotal Egypt) (El Baradei, in Nassar and El Laithy, eds., 2001).

In addition, there is evidence that education in Egypt has a negative returnin relation to employment criteria (Rizk, 1999). There are also indicators of adecline over time in returns to basic education (Fergany, 2000). This high costof education combined to a low return to education strongly reduces the incen-tive for poor children to pursue education.

Contribution to the family’s income was also given as a reason for non-enrolment or dropout of school in the Social Fund Development Survey(CAPMAS and SFD, 1993). It constituted 3.1 per cent of the reasons for girlsand 2.3 per cent for boys.

In poor households, girls’ labour is often acutely needed (inside or outsidethe house). This was a reason was given for non-enrolment of girls by the illit-erates in the sample survey conducted in two governorates in Egypt – Al Shar-qeya and Cairo (Third World Forum, 1994).

Household work and childcare by girls is referred to by several studies.While both sons and daughters have household tasks, the demand for girls’labour is higher, and unequal demand for household labour translates into aneducational disadvantage for girls (Ghul, 1990).

3.4.4 Shortage of financial resourcesDespite benefiting from strongly increased resources during the 1990’s, theEgyptian education system still lacks sufficient financial resources for substan-tial qualitative improvements. These greater resources were insufficient to makeneeded reforms in the system due to the heavy legacy of years of deteriorationof the education system and under-funding during the 1970s and the 1980s.

A rough estimate of the financial resources needed to redress some of theshortcomings of the pre-university education system indicates that aboutLE 16.9 billion would be required until the year 2000 and above a yearly budgetof about LE 15.9 billion (in 1998-99 prices) and in addition to other current andinvestment expenditures (El Baradei, 2000). Although these are rough estimates,they are indicative of the magnitude of budget shortage.


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This shortage is responsible for the unavailability of school places in someareas – the unavailability of schools constituted 28.3 per cent (38.5 for boys and10.1 for girls) of the reasons for non-enrolment or dropout from education(CAPMAS and SFD, 1993). It is also responsible for the persistence of multi-school shifts and the poor quality of education. All of these push childrenaway from education and into the labour market. In fact, the short hours ofmany schools, especially those using shift systems, facilitate work before andafter class.

3.4.5 Distribution of educational expendituresPublic education spending is not only a matter of quantity disbursed but also ofother factors, most importantly the pattern of resource allocation. How does thispattern of allocation affect the accessibility of poor children to education? Thiscan be depicted from the investigation of three points:

• the intrasectoral allocation of public educational expenditures,

• the structural allocation of public educational expenditures, and

• the regional allocation of public educational expenditures.

3.4.6 The intra-sectoral allocation of public educational expendituresIf a government allocates most of its spending on education to the higher levelsto benefit a few leaving few resources for basic education, the result is a low levelof structural equity in the education system (Tan and Mingat, 1992). The patternof educational expenditures in Egypt reveals this bias in favour of tertiary edu-cation and away from basic education.

During the period from 1990-91 to 1995-96, pre-university education,including basic and secondary levels (comprising nearly 95 per cent of totalenrolment), received on average 69 per cent of total government educationalexpenditures. Of this, basic education (primary and preparatory), which accountsfor 79 per cent of total enrolment, received only 51 per cent of total governmenteducational expenditures. This compares with 31 per cent for the universitylevel, which accounts for only about 6 per cent of total enrolment (World Bank,1996).

As research has shown (El Baradei, 2001), poor people attend the basiceducation level and have less access to the higher levels. Thus, a resource loca-tion pattern favouring tertiary education negatively affects the quality and qual-ity of basic education, which in turn acts as a push factor for poor children leavethe education system.

3.4.7 The structural allocation of public educational expendituresThe composition of public educational expenditures in Egypt is characterized bya strong bias towards current expenditures. The period from 1980-81 to 1989-90witnessed a very high and increasing share of current expenditures in compari-son with total government expenditure on education (pre-university and univer-sity levels), with an average of 83 per cent throughout the period. This situation


42

improved slightly through the period 1991-1996, with an average of 81.3 cent(El Baradei, 2000). This bias against capital expenditures led to shortages inschools, high classroom densities and the prevalence of double and triple shifts,which facilitate the combining of school and work.

3.4.8 The regional allocation of public educational expendituresThe regional allocation of current public education expenditures (i.e. among.governorates) in Egypt tends to favour some governorates at the expense ofothers, specifically at the expense of governorates where the poor live.

Comparing the governorates’ shares of pupils age 6-18 years enrolled ineducation in the governorates’ shares of current educational expenditures indi-cates that the most advantaged governorates are Upper Egypt governorates andalso rural Lower Egypt governorates, while the most favoured are the urban ones(El Baradei, 2000).

This conforms to the fact that the largest overall proportion of Egyptianworking children are in the agricultural sector, as Table 30 shows (UNICEF,2002).

Table 30. Distribution of children aged 6-14 by urban/rural location 1999-2000 (per cent)

Student Student and employed Employed Neither student nor employedTotal

Urban 86.15 0.09 1.77 11.99 100

Rural 83.04 0.17 4.01 12.79 100

Total 84.18 0.14 3.19 12.49 100

Source: Calculated from the HICES 1999-2000 (CAPMAS).

3.4.9 The poor quality of educationA major reason for the low access to education as observed in several studiesand as cited by poor children and their parents in field studies and surveys (seeEl Baradei, 1995) is the inefficiency of the educational system and the unsatis-factory educational experience in general. This inefficiency is reflected in ashortage of school buildings, the deteriorated condition of schools, the multi-school shifts, the overcrowded classes, the qualitative and quantitative shortageof teachers, and the maltreatment of pupils by teachers. It is also characterizedby a low quality of curricula and textbooks, an examination system that relies onmemorization and which leads to the widespread use of private lessons and pri-vate tuition, a reliance on non-ministerial textbooks, and a high repetition rate(El Baradei, 1994 and El Baradei, 1995). This inefficiency was an outcome ofdemographic pressures on the one hand and strained resources accompanied byinefficient public spending on the other. Thus, for the most part, expansion ofaccess to education has been accomplished at the expense of quality (El Baradei,1994 and El Baradei, 2000).


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This low quality has reduced returns to schooling, particularly for poorhouseholds whose children are most likely to attend low-quality governmentalschools. Low quality and low achievement among the poor produce limitedlearning and thus limited expected economic return, especially when comparedto the rising cost of education. Thus, the low quality of education has been a“push factor” that is reflected in both non-enrolment and dropout of poor children.

Repeated failure (which is also an aspect of poor quality) constitutes92.5 per cent of the reasons for dropping out for the poor and 93.2 per cent forthe non-poor. However, repeated failure was more of a reason for the poor thanfor the non-poor; it constituted a reason for 58 per cent of the poor, and for only42 per cent of the non-poor (El Baradei in Nassar and El Laithy, 2001).

For example, the Report of the Centre for the Welfare and Development ofthe Working Child at Boulak Aboul Ela indicates that among 38 child enrolledin the Centre, eight have never attended school while the majority of the otherchildren were illiterate, although they left school at the fourth and fifth grades(Korayem, 1998). In a sample survey conducted by the same centre, data demon-strated that schooling factors constituted 84 per cent of the reasons behind drop-ping out and that school failure and dislike of school constituted 15 per cent ofthe factors leading to child work, while family poverty constituted 35 per centof those factors (Korayem, 1998).

Moreover, the poor quality of education was not only reflected in its inter-nal inefficiency, but also in its external inefficiency. Many studies – as well asreal-world anecdotal evidence – indicate that the Egyptian education system hasa low external efficiency. This is reflected in the distortion of the relationshipbetween education and the labour market. Available data indicate that the ratesof unemployment by educational level were as follows: 1.1 per cent for the illit-erates; 1.3 per cent for the individuals who can read and write; 4.4 per cent forprimary education graduates; 4.0 per cent for less-than-intermediate certificateholders; 23.8 per cent for intermediate certificate holders; 13.6 per cent forabove-intermediate certificate holders; 8.9 per cent for university graduates and0.4 per cent for higher degree graduates (Rizk, 1999).

3.4.10 Non-supportive learning environmentA non-supportive learning environment, whether physical or psychological, caninhibit children from continuing education. Despite the high rate of school build-ing and renovation during the 1990’s, the upgrading of school facilities remainsa major challenge (UNICEF, 2002).

A 1999 survey of public preparatory schools (El Tawila et al., 2000) indi-cated that many school buildings remain unfit for use and, although triple shift-ing has been eliminated, a number of double shift schools continue to operate.Classroom crowding is still prevalent, with an average of 42 pupils per class atthe primary level and 44 pupils per class at the preparatory level in 1998-99. Thesame Survey found that while almost all pupils (91 percent) could hear theteacher clearly, 45 per cent had insufficient space to write comfortably and overone-third could not see the blackboard properly.


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The survey also pointed to sanitation facilities, cleanness and other schoolfacilities. It indicated that while all schools have toilets available to students, thenumber available is inadequate given the size of the student population: on aver-age schools have less than one toilet per 100 students. Moreover, 42 per cent oftoilets were observed to be unclean and 39 per cent of girls and 51 per cent ofboys felt that they have no privacy. As a result, utilization is low – only 21 percent of girls and 51 per cent of boys used the toilet during the day.

Also, 34 per cent of schools have neither a nurse nor a doctor, with schoolsin Upper Egypt much more likely to lack a nurse or a doctor (54 percent).

Other material resources also seem to be lacking: only 86 per cent of class-rooms are well lit and ventilated, only 72 per cent were found to be clean and61 per cent found to be quiet. In 24 per cent of the classrooms observed, at least10 per cent of desks were broken (EI-Tawila et al., 2000).

Among the factors that also contribute to a non-supportive environment forstudents in Egypt and inhibits children from continuing education are corporalpunishment, denigration of students by staff, staff favouritism, and harassmentand teasing. More than one half of preparatory schools’ students reported beingharassed, teased or upset at school during the week prior to the survey (EI-Tawilaet al., 2000). Moreover, many Egyptian teachers continue to resort to physicalviolence in the classroom. In the 1997 National Survey of Adolescents, over halfof 10-19 year-olds reported being hit by their teachers (Ibrahim et al., 1999).

3.4.11 Irrelevance of curriculaNumerous studies have stressed the low quality of curricula and textbooks in theEgyptian education system. Curricula are often irrelevant to children’s needs,especially in rural areas, because most of the basic education curricula reflecturban lifestyles. Also at the secondary education level, particularly in technicaleducation (which absorbs 65 per cent of preparatory school graduates), the linkof the education system curricula to the labour market is very weak. As demon-strated earlier, unemployment among secondary education graduates is the high-est of all groups. In addition to the wear curricula, this is due to the low qualityteaching, lack of materials and supplies.

3.5 THE EFFECT OF CHILD LABOUR ON SCHOOLING

While it may be said that the present state of the Egyptian education systemhelps create the pool of child labour, the question remains if the demand for childlabour leads to drop out. According to Assaad, “Because child labour is stronglyassociated with not being in school, it is often assumed that child labour causesschool dropout. This is not necessarily true, however”. (Asaad et al., 2002).

It also does not seem to be strongly the case for Egypt. Contribution to thefamily’s income constituted only 2.8 per cent (2.7 per cent for boys and 3.1 percent for girls) of the reasons given for non-enrolment or dropout from educationin a survey conducted in 1993 (CAPMAS and SFD, 1993).


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Also, recent research on the effect of child work on school enrolment inEgypt (Asaad et al., 2002) found that, although work is strongly associated withnot being in school for both boys and girls, there is a strong causal relationshipbetween work and lack of school attendance only for girls. Thus, work has nodirect effect on schooling for boys but has strong effect on girls. This is veryimportant for formulating policies for combating child labour as it is for elimi-nating gender differentials in education.

3.5.1 Barriers to girls’ educationThe issue of education entails a further problem related to child labour. Thegender disparities that lead to poorer enrolment and/or continuity of educationfor girls raises the possibilities of their working at a very young age, whether intheir parental or marital home or outside the domestic realm. Considered a vio-lation of basic human rights for every child, Egypt is obliged by internationallaw to move towards the elimination of such a phenomenon. Egypt’s identifica-tion of the elimination gender disparities in education as a national priorityreveals the commitment the government has made towards implementing a strat-egy that ensures special attention to the rights and needs of the girls. Based onthis commitment, efforts are being made to incorporate education for girls in theEgyptian Constitution, to recognize it as a human right, and to consider the issuea development-related priority.

Basic education for every Egyptian child is not only an essential develop-mental objective, it is also basic right and an international obligation. Exclusionof girls from basic education feeds into the chronic problem of women’s illiteracy.

Nevertheless, powerful impediments stand in the way of attaining thisobjective. Some of the most important of these impediments are related to struc-tural adjustment of the Egyptian economy, including:

• weakening government commitment to provide free public services andpursuit of cost-recovery when it does;

• high and rising costs of education in the context of widespread, and prob-ably mounting, poverty; and

• low and declining returns to basic education.

The socio-cultural biases against the equality of women in general, thoughweakening over time, play an important role in the apparent gender bias againstgirls in education. The fact that schools are rarely attractive to children and canbe particularly hostile environments for girls does not help.

While considerable progress has been achieved on the quantitative expan-sion dimension, basic education still does not reach all Egyptian childrenequally. Exclusion is higher for girls, particularly in rural areas. In addition, thechallenge of quality is proving to be the more daunting to overcome. Indeed,there is now evidence that attaining high-quality basic education for girls inEgypt could be the most effective approach for ensuring the wider developmen-tal objective of high-quality basic education for all children in the country.


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The most promising approach seems to lie in setting up girl-friendly, com-munity-owned schools built around child-centred participatory learning withmeticulous attention paid to the training of learning facilitators as well as to theseeking out inputs from civil society. The community schools project, jointlysponsored by the MOE and UNICEF represent a strong start in this direction.

Perhaps the best strategy to ensure high quality universal basic educationfor all girls is for this community schools project to expand nationally in paral-lel to the government system. This could also have the beneficial effect ofspurring the government system to higher levels of quality and girl friendliness.

3.6 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF GENDER DIFFERENTIALS IN BASIC EDUCATION

3.6.1 The extent of the gender gap in enrolmentPerhaps the most reliable set of estimates of net enrolment ratios by gender wasconstructed in an analytic study carried out for UNICEF-Egypt in 1996, givingnet enrolment ratios in primary education by sex in governorates by rural/urbanresidence in 1990-91 and 1995-96 (Fergany et al., 1996). A second phase of thework that was to result in corresponding estimates on the level of smaller sub-divisions of the country was unfortunately cancelled. The estimates of this studycan be summarized in the Table 31.

Table 31. Upper-bound net enrolment ratios by sex and rural/urban residence, fiveand six grades, 1990-91 and 1995-96 (per cent)

Category 5 grades 6 grades

1990-91 1995-96 1990-91 1995-96

Urban Boys 91.4 86.5 92.4 86.6

Girls 90.9 84.9 91.8 85.5

Total 91.2 85.7 92.1 86.1

Rural Boys 93.7 92.3 94.1 91.2

Girls 72.9 75.8 72.2 74.5

Total 83.6 84.2 83.5 83.1

Total Boys 92.7 89.9 93.4 89.3

Girls 80.4 79.5 80.3 79.0

Total 86.8 84.8 87.1 84.3

Source: Fergany et al. (1996).

Considering the 6-10 year age-group, corresponding to the five grades ofthe primary education cycle in MOE schools at the time, rural girls appear tohave come out as the only clear winners in the first half of the 1990s: their netenrolment ratio rose. As a consequence, there was a slight improvement in


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overall net enrolment the countryside. This is also reflected in a narrowinggender differential in enrolment in rural areas over those five years. This repre-sents a positive response to the campaign to build schools in deprived rural areaswhere the lack of schools near residential agglomerations is a known factor inlow access of girls to education. Nonetheless, in the mid-1990s, 15 per cent of6-10 year-olds are estimated to have been out of primary school. For boys, exclu-sion from primary education was estimated at 11 per cent; for girls it was almostdouble that.

Independently, a nationwide sample survey carried out in 1995 resulted inthe estimates of net enrolment ratios in primary education (5 grades) shown inTable 32.

Table 32. Percentage of de facto household population aged 6-10 years

Boys Girls Total

89.1 79.0 84.2


Another way to look at the extent of exclusion from primary education andthe related gender differential is to consider estimates of children out of primaryeducation. In absolute terms, exclusion from primary education is estimated tohave risen during the first half of the 1990s and the vast majority of excludedchildren were girls in rural areas. It is estimated that 1.3 million 6-10 year-oldswere out of primary education, two-thirds of them in rural areas, and nearly halfrural girls.

Since the mid-1990s, net enrolment ratios are estimated to have improved,with a steady narrowing of the gender gap in enrolment in primary education.Nevertheless, girls still suffered lower enrolment in primary education relativeto boys up to the late-1990s. Only 1 per cent of boys in primary education ageare estimated to have been out of school in 1998-99. In the case of girls, how-ever, the extent of deprivation was about 10 per cent.

The intake rate (percentage of new entrants in the first grade relative to thenumber of 6 year-olds), though generally rising throughout the 1990s, has notreached required 100 per cent level needed for universal enrolment in the firstgrade of basic education. In 1998-99, the intake rate was estimated at only 96 percent for both boys and girls.

3.6.2 A demographic advantage squanderedDemographic trends reveal that, as a result of declining birth rates, the school-age population is likely to have peaked in 1995-96, having risen slightly from1994-95. The estimated values for 1996-97 and 1997-98 are successivelysmaller. If the declining trend in registered births continued, the school-age pop-ulation will decline in coming years.


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The expected decline in the school-age population is likely to be relativelylarger in urban areas. In fact, at the end of the century, school-age populationsin the cities have been considerably smaller compared with 1990.

In other words, demographic trends should have been advantageous forefforts to universalize primary education since the mid-1990s, especially inurban areas. Nonetheless, in view of the large number of children still outsideschools (especially girls in rural areas) and the difficulty of mopping up the lastvestiges of deprivation from primary education in rural areas, this demographicadvantage has been inconsequential relative to the size of the problem.

3.7 DETERMINANTS OF EXCLUSION FROM BASIC EDUCATIONBY SEX

The determinants of exclusion form basic education can be summed up asfollows.

3.7.1 Basic education in Egypt is costlyBasic education is in principle free in Egypt. Nevertheless, the cost of educationto the household, be it direct in the form of tuition and fees or indirect in the formof clothing and other personal expenses and the increasingly felt need for pri-vate tutoring, can be considerable.

3.7.2 Weak returns of basic educationIn some cases, the returns of basic education are not only weak, they are nega-tive. This is particularly true among the poor who do not have access to high-paying jobs. In other words, the labour market seems to punish education as wellas poverty. Therefore, economic stagnation, rising unemployment, wideningpoverty and deteriorating quality of education and differential access to choicejob opportunities by different social categories help explain the weak interest ineducation as a whole. Gender disparities in this case are clearly apparent. Dueto socio-cultural biases, this aversion tends to affect girls to a larger extent thanboys. When a choice has to be made among children in the family of who goesto school, girls end up staying at home.

3.7.3 Poverty and the bias against girlsGirls suffer significantly lower levels of initial enrolment in education and com-pletion of primary education. They do not, however, under-perform boys in cog-nitive achievement. As a matter of fact, the analysis of examination results of theMOE on the national level shows that girls do better than boys in primary edu-cation on every criterion (Fergany et al., 1996). Girls suffer higher levels ofexclusion from primary education though they represent no worse educationalinvestment than boys.


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On the level of the household Poverty of the household is a barrier to initial enrolment and a detractor of

the chances of completion of primary education, but exerts no significant effecton cognitive achievement. Since acquiring human capital is the most effectivemeans of combating poverty in a poor country, exclusion of the poor from basiceducation exacerbates inequality in a country suffering from ever-widening dis-parity. The appropriate policy is the creation of adequate, effective, and non-stigmatizing social support mechanisms for the education of children of the poor.

Girls from poor backgrounds suffer lower enrolment rates than boys, whilethe gender differential in enrolment disappears among the non-poor. Completionof primary education by gender and income levels tells another story.

There is no gender differential in completion among the poor. However,among the non-poor, girls slightly outperform boys in completion. Dropping outof primary education is therefore a poverty-related phenomenon regardless ofgender. Nevertheless, since girls suffer a high level of deprivation from entry,they end up with lower net enrolment ratios.

The poverty/gender differentials in cognitive achievement follow the samepattern as completion of primary education. Poor girls are not worse off thanpoor boys, but girls outperform boys amongst the non-poor.

On the community level: Governorates by rural/urban residenceAccording to Fergany (1996), a negative relationship holds between net enrol-ment ratios and poverty in both urban and rural areas and for both girls and boys.The relationship is much stronger in the case of girls, particularly in rural areas.A similar relationship holds on the level of smaller administrative units of thecountry (kism/markaz) by rural/urban residence.

On the community level: Districts by rural/urban residenceAccording to Fergany (1996), a positive relationship exists between the exclu-sion of girls from primary education and relative poverty on the communitylevel. Relatively non-poor districts generally have more than 90 per cent of girlsin the primary education age-group enrolled in schools. In the poorer commu-nities, however, the extent of exclusion of girls from primary education is sig-nificantly higher in response to rising relative poverty. The poorest communitiesshow average values of exclusion of about 50 per cent.

Accordingly, since rural communities generally suffer higher levels of rel-ative poverty, with the worst incidence of relative poverty is observed in ruralUpper Egypt, they suffer from high levels of exclusions from primary educationamong girls than the relatively richer, urban subdivisions of the country. In therelatively poorer rural communities of Egypt, however, the positive relationshipbetween poverty and exclusion of girls from primary education is higher thanaverage. Thus, the impact of poverty on the extent of exclusion of girls frombasic education, though significant on the level of households, is compoundedon the community level and heightens with the increase in the size of the admin-istrative unit considered. The clear conclusion is that efforts to universalize basic


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education for girls should rigorously target poorer areas of the country, espe-cially rural areas.

Unfortunately, the socio-economic context does not augur well for basiceducation, especially for children of the poor. This context is characterized byan economy in recession, rising poverty, intensifying social polarization, and agovernment constrained by the requirements of structural adjustment. Educationof girls is likely to deteriorate even further if no concerted action is taken. Toavert this, a comprehensive policy package for eradicating the gender gap inenrolment should be developed and effectively implemented. Such a packageshould provide access to girl-friendly schools all over the country, but especiallyin remote hamlets in the poor countryside.

3.7.4 The socio-cultural contextIt was shown above that poverty and exclusion from education are two mutuallyreinforcing forces of deprivation that exact a much heavier toll on girls thanboys. The socio-cultural impediments to girls’ education are still operative butprobably eroding. It is good to recall here the conclusion reported earlier thatwhen the school building campaign in the 1990s brought schools closer to ruralcommunities, enrolment of rural girls surged. There are also indications that sup-port for girls education is rising.

Attitudes towards educationTable 33 shows near unanimity of opinion (98 per cent) on the importance ofeducation for boys. In the case of girls, expression of the importance of educa-tion declined to a little less than 90 per cent, still almost universal.

Table 33. Attitudes of heads of households towards girls’ education and returns to education by rural/urban residence (per cent)

Statement Urban Rural Total

Education is important for girls 95 82 89

A girl should complete education and 45 34 40bwork efore considering marriage

An educated person earns more 45 64 54

People respect the rich more 34 24 29than the educated


Two attitude items probed the interaction between education, work andmarriage as three goals for girls. More than 80 per cent supported the positionthat a girl should “complete education before considering marriage”, indicatinga preference for education over the most important traditional career for girls –that is marriage. When “work” was added to completing education before con-


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sidering marriage, support among heads of households went down to around 40per cent. Clearly, for girls work is not an acceptable substitute for marriage yet.

About half of the male heads of households expressed a belief that educa-tion does not guarantee employment, which is consistent with the objective factsof the labour market. There was, however, a higher degree of approval, particu-larly by male heads of households that, if one finds employment, education guar-antees a “respectable” job. This attests to the relatively high social status attachedto education. On the contrary, however, a bare majority (50-60 per cent) thoughtthat an “educated person earns more”. The other side of the coin is that morethan 40 per cent of respondents believed that education does not result in highearnings. This loss of faith in the employment and earning values of educationis supported by a more encompassing social norm, accepted by a large minorityof about a quarter of respondents, that “the rich are better respected than theeducated”.

Another aspect of the gender differential in education preferences of headsof households relates to what stage should girls be educated compared to boys.With the exception of female heads of households in the countryside, the major-ity of responses of heads of households indicated that both boys and girls shouldcomplete university education. However, the preference for boys completinguniversity education was higher than for girls (Table 34).

Table 34. Preference of heads of households for university education by sex and rural/urban residence (per cent)

R/U Boys Girls

Male heads Female heads Male heads Female heads

Urban 68 66 64 59

Rural 65 48 51 40

Total 67 58 58 51


Reported reasons for initial exclusion and dropping outAccording to the Access to Primary Education and its Quality Survey (AQS), themost important reasons given by individuals in the 6-17 age-group for neverattending school were as follows:

• Forty-five per cent of the families did not care for education. Prominentamong family members in this respect was the father (28 per cent). Bycomparison, the mother was held responsible in only 2 per cent of the casesreflecting a rather inconsequential role in such a decision.

• Twenty-five per cent was due to poverty of the family. Helping the familyin an economic activity (a related reason) was reported in about 7 per centof the cases and the child not caring or wanting to go to school was also


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cited in about 7 per cent of cases. This could be taken as a reflection of theextent of anti-education attitudes among young people.

• Helping with domestic chores (mainly in the case of girls).

Gender differentials in this area had two main reasons: 1) the father notcaring for education (boys 15 per cent; girls 34 per cent); and 2) the child notcaring for education (boys 13 per cent; girls 5 per cent) (Ibrahim et al., 1999).

Why do primary education pupils dropout?An appreciation of the causes can be based on dropouts’ responses on the reasonfor dropping out of school. Based on the AQS results, primary school pupilsmainly drop out of school for the following reasons:

• 36 per cent of the cases were due to failure, repetition and poor scholasticachievement;

• 22 per cent of dropouts expressed dislike for school and education;

• 7 per cent were affected by maltreatment of teachers to their pupils;

• 3 per cent needed to help in family business;

• 2 per cent simply wanted to work; and

• 6 per cent need to help out in domestic chores (in the case of girls).

Thus, failure in school comes on top of the reasons for dropping out ofbasic education.

In the case of girls, additional factors are known to affect the attractivenessof schools. On top of the list comes the physical and emotional school environ-ment. Girls are more comfortable and hence learn better in schools whose facil-ities afford them privacy and security. Emotionally oppressive school environ-ments can offend the sensibilities of children, particularly girls, and cause themto develop an aversion to school and drop out. Egyptian schools are not knownfor good facilities, let alone girl-friendly ones (for example, clean, protectedbathrooms) (Ibrahim et al., 1999). Also, pupil-educator relations have a strongeffect on the attitudes towards schooling; complaints of bad treatment are fre-quent in the survey results as reported above.

To summarize, the evidence on determinants of the gender gap in enrol-ment in basic education is:

1) a preference for boys in enrolment in basic education is stronger in poorhouseholds and communities;

2) a cultural bias against girls’ education, although surveys reveal that thecultural preference for school enrolment for boys is not much higher thanthat for girls;

3) household chores constitute more of a reason for girls to drop out of schoolin a small percentage of cases; and

4) the oppressiveness of the physical and emotional environments of schools,which needs fundamental reform to become more girl-friendly.


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3.8 NATIONAL EFFORTS IN EDUCATION AND CHILD LABOUR

Recent efforts have been directed to education and especially girls’ education.After participating in the World Conference on Education for All in 1990, Egyptbecame one of the ten countries targeted by UNICEF/UNESCO for special focusin implementing a worldwide effort to combat illiteracy and reach universal cov-erage in basic education. In 1992, UNICEF, in partnership with the MOE, initi-ated the Community School Project in rural communities in Upper Egypt. By1999 the project had established 207 community schools in three governoratesin Upper Egypt.

Shortly thereafter, the MOE reactivated the One-Classroom School Pro-gramme on a national scale that it had introduced in the 1970s in remote ruralcommunities. This programme resulted in the establishment of over 2500 one-classroom school. In 2001-02 the number of girls in theses schools reached55,602 compared to 2,926 girls in 1993-94.

A National Taskforce for Girls Education was established to steer Egypt’sinitiative to promote girls’education and eliminate gender disparities by the year2005. A geographic-based assessment was carried out in seven priority gover-norates to determine the magnitude of the challenge and deliver immediate inter-ventions. A pedagogical training package was developed to train local taskforcesin sustainable planning and developing strategies and action plans. The ultimategoal of this national initiative is to achieve gender equality and enrolment of girlsin high educational systems by the year 2015.

The issue of child labour has witnessed several activities on a national scaleas well. A national survey was carried out in determine the magnitude of theproblem and to suggest immediate interventions. This has resulted in carryingout several workshops in seven priority governorates of Egypt to discuss theproblem of child labour and its worst forms, with a special attention paid to theissue of the working girl. Child labour is now included as a component inEgypt’s five-year national plan (2002-2007). Several pilot action programmeswere also developed in various governorates in Egypt. Special interventions areincluded to address the working girls’ needs.

3.9 CONCLUSION

This study concludes by offering some suggestions for going forward. Through-out the study, a primary purpose was to survey the available literature on gender,education and child labour. Therefore, an effort has been made to highlight bothwhat is known about these topics as well as remaining deficiencies.

The literature on the topic is unfortunately very thin. Although there is agrowing body of research on gender and education as a result of the growinginterest of the government in closing the gender gap, literature on gender andchild labour is almost nonexistent. A relatively small number of studies have


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addressed the relationship between education and child labour; however, theyhave failed to provide deeper analysis of such relationship. As for gender, moststudies were limited to “adding” girls rather than analysing gender differentia-tions. Thus, they failed to depict the different impacts of education and childlabour on girls and consequently address their different needs. Unless gender dif-ferentiations are addressed in both education and work, there can be little hopethat the situation of girls will ever improve. Gender disparities in education willnot disappear until societies take serious measures to tackle girls’ needs in edu-cation and work.


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RECOMMENDATIONS

A fresh wave of research that studies the interrelationships between child labourand education from a gender perspective is needed. Additional research on thefollowing areas is recommended:

• domestic workers, as this is one of the areas that is completely missing inthe literature;

• the sectors where girls are numerous (trade and services);

• the worst forms of child labour, with special emphasis on girls as their workis often hidden;

• the impact of education programmes on girls;

• the impact of girls’ work on their educational performance;

• the impact of household gender relations on girls’education and work; and

• comprehensive needs assessments for girls.

It is also suggested that more progressive interventions that include a com-prehensive community-based approach be developed and carried out ensure theparticipation of various stakeholders and working children themselves. Creatinga partnership with working children, especially girls, is needed to ensure the suc-cessful impacts of interventions. If we are to ensure that girl-working childrenplay an active and creative role in the process of eliminating child labour, theyneed to be liberated from poverty and gender bias and be allowed an equal andfair chance for education.

There is a need for a progressive and holistic action-oriented plan toaddress the problem of child labour and highlight the issues and needs of the girlworking-child that leads to a specific intervention programme. There is also aneed to promote child-rights concepts and reinforce the implementation of lawsand ratified conventions.

Child labour is rooted in poverty, and poverty is known to cause childrento drop out of school. Even when poor children stay in school, the miserable con-ditions of their families often lowers their school performance. A vicious circle

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4

is thus created between poverty and education. Low levels of school achieve-ment perpetuate poverty, and poverty causes low achievement in schools. Thisvicious circle is further maintained with the growing unemployment amongyoung educated people and the low level of expectations characteristic of the“culture of poverty”.

It would be unrealistic, therefore, to believe that the tightening of legisla-tive measures banning child labour or the strict enforcement of labour lawswould put an end to this phenomenon that has serious implications for thehealthy and sound growth of children. So long as poverty persists, there will bechild labour. As the prospects of higher rates of economic growth in Egypt arenot very bright in the near future, a considerable number of poor children willcontinue to seek work, either sent by their families or on their own.

A realistic strategy to deal with child labour nationally would thereforehave to be predicated on the assumption that large numbers of children will findtheir way to the labour market in the short to the medium term. Such a strategyshould aim at protecting child labourers and eliminating worst forms of suchlabour in the short and medium term and eradicating all child labour in thelong term.

The most effective remedy against child labour in the long term is eco-nomic development, but not just any kind of economic development. The nec-essary economic development must have a human face and improve the standardof living for those families and children at risk for child labour. Until the impactof development is felt by the poor, the national strategy should focus on theelimination of the worst and most dangerous forms of child labour and protectthose children above the legal working age who engage in permissible typesof work.

Before detailing the elements of this strategy that concern poverty allevia-tion and reform of education, there are several basic prerequisites for the successof this strategy. These include the following:

• The availability of reliable information on the size of the problem of childlabour, the types of jobs practiced by working children and conditions ofemployment. Such information must not remain a monopoly of onegovernment agency or department, as is the case now. It must be availableto concerned institutions and individuals inside and outside of the govern-ment.

• Better coordination among all the institutions concerned with child labour,both within the government and society in general. This would preventduplication of effort make more resources available in general.

• Increasing awareness of the serious implications of child labour withinthose institutions in charge of combating child labour. Ways must be iden-tified to foster proactive commitment not simply awareness of the negativeimplications of child labour.

• Mobilizing working children and their families to demand full respect forchildren’s rights and have laws on child labour are enforced.


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• As it is well known that the government of Egypt may not have theresources required for the implementation of a realistic strategy to combatchild labour, mobilization of civil society is indispensable. It should benoted that the number of civil society organizations concerned with childlabour is small in Egypt. The removal of legal restrictions that hinder theestablishment such organizations or that obstruct their work would helpvery much in this respect.

Some of the more specific policies included in such strategy could includethe following economic (Section 4.1) and educational (Section 4.2) measuresand reforms.

4.1 ECONOMIC MEASURES TO COMBAT CHILD LABOUR

4.1.1 At the macro levelIn addition to the need for examination and eradication of all obstacles hinder-ing the enforcement of the Child Labour Law (which prohibits the employmentof children below 14 in occupations that are hazardous and regulates the condi-tions of work permitted by law), the national plan of action against child labourshould include the following measures:

Periodic identification of the poorThe shortage of reliable data at the household level in particular is an obstacleagainst the accurate identification of the poverty problem in Egypt.

An identification of the poor on a periodic basis is needed. The Social Fundfor Development (SFD) has already started this task through the InstitutionalDevelopment Project. However, for the long run this task should be institution-alized in CAPMAS as a regular activity like the Ministry of Health and Popula-tion’s Demographic and Health Survey on fertility carried out every three to fouryears. These surveys, if undertaken on a periodic basis, would provide data onthe magnitude and characteristics of the poverty problem over time in such a waythat they could serve as a guide for policy-makers to identify where interven-tions are needed and where progress is being made.

This does not mean just the identification of a poverty line, a poverty gap,a count of the number of the poor and of the ultra poor, their regional distribu-tion and their main characteristics. It should also describe the sources of income,the distribution of living standards, social indicators by gender and age, occu-pational structure, access to public services, ownership of assets and consump-tion patterns, the variability of income, and accessibility to the credit, land andproductive assets.

Periodic determination of the magnitude of the child labourCAPMAS and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood should col-laborate on a periodic survey on the numbers and characteristics of vulnerablechildren.

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The different types of vulnerable children’s vulnerability in Egypt include:

• children who have families and work in establishments or on the street butare attending school; and

• working children who have families but have dropped school.

Determination of the magnitude and socioeconomic characteristics of eachcategory is needed. In addition, their sources of income and accessibility topublic and social services are important aspects that should be examined on aperiodic basis.

This type of survey is important for designing programmes for each groupof children.

For working children who are living with their families and going toschool, the designed programmes should concentrate on their protection in theworkplace, improving their work conditions, protecting them from hazardousemployment and work injuries.

Protective programmes for these children should vary according to theirplace of work, whether in establishments or on the street. The provision of ade-quate health services is essential.

Besides, increasing the income of their parents may eliminate their engage-ment in economic activities. Finally providing working children with educa-tional programmes is necessary for those who dropped out of school.

Increasing and targeting the financial resources for social assistance schemesand social services that reaches the poor in particularConsidering the social assistance schemes, it was estimated that the state schemecovers about 1 in 5 of the eligible population, at a sub-subsistence level of aboutLE 45 per year on average for once-off and pension relief combined. Fundingfor the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affairs transfer payments schemesshould be greatly increased to allow individual benefits to increase at a realisticlevel.

Two principal targeting mechanisms may be used to reach the poor: indi-cators and self-selection devices:

1) Targeting the poor on the basis of income indicators derived from house-hold surveys: In the absence of such data other proxies may be used suchas geographic location, educational and occupational characteristics ordemographic characteristics.

2) Screening by self-selection through specific programme and projectdesign: Low cost dwellings, low status food, low paying jobs or simplewater and sanitation facilities. Self-selection is useful for food and nutri-tion programmes also.

4.1.2 At the meso/micro levelAt this level one should distinguish between working children living in familiesand children without families.


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For the first category of children the following devices are recommended:

The development of an extensive system for employment and income genera-tion schemes in areas with a high incidence of child labourThis approach relies on the assumption that if the family’s income increases, itwill not send children to work. In this case the policy should differentiatebetween permanent loss of income and temporary loss due to structural adjust-ment policies.

To compensate the temporary loss of incomes due to the employment poli-cies of ERSAP, for example, the efforts of the SFD could be supported andextended to the following:

• Allow the capitalization of job separation benefits giving displaced work-ers a source of capital for starting a small private business.

• Provide transitional employment through the creation of new temporaryjobs (6 months to 1 year) in the same sequence as workers are displaced.The worker receives training in his transitional job to be able to find workin the private sector.

• Provide temporary employment for displaced workers in public-work pro-grammes concentrated in low-income areas.

• Introduce the system of early retirement compensatory payments in theSocial Security System through support of the Social Fund and adjustmentof early retirement compensatory payments and unemployment benefits toinflation rates.

• Support unemployed persons in small and medium-sized enterprises. Thiscould be done by providing different types of low-interest credit to smallenterprises and by offering technical assistance for them should thisbecome necessary. Group lending is important to assure the reimbursementof loans. However lending to women should be combined with technicalassistance in literacy, bookkeeping and management skills as well as in theproduction process itself.

The introduction of a comprehensive system for transfer payments for thefamilies of the working children

Food subsidies There are various types of food-subsidy schemes that can to assure the coverageof the poor. These include:

• Targeting the ration card to those who are nutritionally in need.

• Geographical targeting by closing ration shops in rich areas and concen-trating on ration shops in poor areas.

• Giving larger amounts of subsidies to selected areas of low-income ratherthan giving small quantities to larger population.

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• Giving larger amounts of subsidies to ensure food intake of the lowestincome groups. Commodities that are essential for the consumption of thepoor include rice, bread, oil, sugar and beans.

• Subsidizing low-priced items with high nutrient value, such as extractedflour used to make the traditional bread, beached rice and sugar (before andafter purification).

• Opening of more cooperative stores in areas outside Cairo. Membership inworkplace cooperatives could be restricted to the workers and employeesin the low grades.

• Determining of the criteria for being beneficiary of the food subsidysystem, such as household income, and proxy means-tests on observeditems, such as durable goods. A periodic examination for the income levelbelow which the full subsidy is granted is important here.

• Distributing food stamps on those who receive the Sadat Pension or provi-sion of public assistance to pregnant and lactating women and children lessthan 5 years visiting a health centre.

Other possible subsidiesElectricity, kerosene and transportation are important items for the poor. Thusthe following measures can be recommended at the intermediate level:

• A stamp scheme for low-income users of electricity for a certain amountat subsidized prices.

• Limiting the price increases on kerosene.

• Distributing of low-priced tickets for the use of trains and regular intercitybuses for the poor.

Social measures, including relevant laws

Educational allowancesEducational allowances are meant to permit working children to continue edu-cation. With a stipend a poor working child is more likely to be enrolled inschool. The period suggested for such an allowance should at least cover basiceducation. It could be extended to complete vocational education.

In specific cases where working children have to stop working to go toschool, an extra stipend for them may be needed to compensate the decline inthe family’s income.

Educational maintenance cards are one type of educational promotiondevice for vulnerable children who have finished basic education successfullyand want to continue vocational training or general education. These cards serveas financial aid for furthering education and training. Educational maintenancecards should be given to successful children until a vocational qualification isattained. This is a means to promote success in education.


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Public assistancePublic maintenance benefits for children in female-headed households until theage of completed basic education are also recommended, especially if these chil-dren do not receive any maintenance payment from the other living parent.

The Sadat Pension, which has been implemented for many years now,should serve as real poverty relief to fulfil the basic requirements for a minimumlevel of existence. This would require an increase in its coverage and a triplingin its amount.

The introduction of an adequate social compensation for damage due tonatural or man-made disasters (the consequences of war, earthquakes, violence,crimes, etc.) is important to compensate the loss of assets.

Sickness allowances A child sickness benefit is a special family allowance that may be applied if aninsured person has no choice but to stay at home in order to care for a sick child.This allowance can compensate the loss of family income.

The expansion of medical treatment for the handicapped (including thesupply of artificial limbs) in the health insurance system: the treatment servesfor the maintenance, improvement and restoration of working capacity as wellas for reintegration into working life and promotion.

Cash payment for handicapped household heads who cannot work servesas poverty alleviation measure for these household heads so that they do not relyon their children. This can help to compensate for the loss of income.

Pensions given to injured persons who have lost their working capacitymust vary in accordance with the degree of the injury and the extent of reduc-tion in their income. This system can be applied on the work injury compensa-tion payments applied in Egypt.

Income maintenance payment (sickness benefit) should be given to anemployed person who is incapable of working due to illness and whose incomeis thus reduced. The sickness benefits should be given only for a limited periodin accordance with the type of sickness.

These payments are temporary to compensate the reduction in income.

Unemployment allowanceThe provision of an unemployment allowance as a component of an employmentpromotion programme could provide the unemployed with vocational trainingthrough the SFD as a realistic solution to increase the income of the unemployedin the long run.

Other measuresRequiring a signed contract for employment of children would ensure that

full legal documentation, workers’ rights and benefits and official minimumwages for working children. The contract could, for example, provide also foraccess to weekend recreational facilities. These facilities could maintain close

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ties with the children when they go to work to ensure a suitable healthy workingenvironment for them.

The establishment of child labour projects that will be monitored by rep-resentatives from ministries of Social Affairs and Manpower. These projectsserve as workshops for engaging street children in economic activities in addi-tion to the full tuition in schools. They provide accommodation, health and edu-cational services for street children.

A child labour project should include representatives from the district, edu-cational, health and nutrition authorities and the non-profit local organizations.Concerned NGO’s should play an important role in future projects aiming foremployment and welfare facilities for street children.

A serious marketing and communications effort is also needed for theseprojects to ensure their financial sustainability.

4.2 EDUCATIONAL POLICY MEASURES TO COMBAT CHILD LABOUR

Out-of-school children who have either never enrolled or have dropped out makeup the largest part of the pool of available child labour in Egypt. The Egyptianeducation system is highly responsible for this phenomenon. As was noted in thelast chapter, the effect of the educational system policies and problems on childlabour is far greater than the effect of child labour on enrolment. However, thereis a strong causal relationship between work and lack of school attendance onlyfor girls.

Hence, educational policies are of crucial importance in combating childlabour, whether in the context of formal or informal education.

Before suggesting any education policy measures, two observations are inorder:

• Condemning all child work and compelling children to go to school with-out first securing viable alternatives can make children more vulnerable toworse forms of exploitation. This means that the real protective role of edu-cation may be to keep children out of the WFCL rather than out of thelabour force. Work and education are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

• There is a wider framework for the problem of child labour than that ofeducation policies. This falls within the government responsibility andincludes economic development and macroeconomic policies in general.When the government boosts economic development, work opportunitiesand the rate of return of education rises, which strengthens the incentivesof families to invest in their children’s education.

In designing appropriate policies and interventions for combating childlabour in Egypt, one must differentiate between two levels of action: formal edu-cation and informal education.


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4.2.2 Framework of action for the Egyptian governmentBesides the general required boosting of economic development and growth, theEgyptian government can enhance education by adopting a set of measuresaiming to overcome the policy barriers observed from the foregoing discussion.These measures could include:

• Increasing the education budget to make schools more accessible: Thiscould be achieved through two channels: (1) by improving efficiency ofspending in education and (2) by mobilizing additional resources to edu-cation.Considerable savings can be achieved through improving efficiency ofspending in the Egyptian education system «by spending well withoutspending more». The main channels to reach this objective are by improvingthe delivery system and by improving resource utilization and allocation.

• Revising compulsory education laws: The Egyptian government shouldreview whether and how existing laws are enforced and introduce amend-ments to make them more responsive to current priorities including prom-ulgating a new law for dropping-out. For example a more dissuasive finecould be imposed on dropouts’parents. These parents could be also deniedcertain facilities, services or subsidies until the children return to school.It must also be noted that compulsory education laws cannot be effectiveunless supported by concomitant programmes, financing and facilities.

4.2.3 Framework of action for the Ministry of EducationThe previous analysis of the effect of the educational system on child labour inEgypt clearly indicates that in order to combat child labour, education policiesmust be formulated as to make schools more accessible, affordable, functionaland friendly.

Making schools more accessibleMaking schools more accessible does not only mean providing more schools,eliminating the triple and double shifts, and bringing schools closer to poor chil-dren (especially girls). It also means improving education quality. This wouldcertainly require more financial resources. However, considerable gains couldbe achieved by restructuring spending priorities:

• Freeing up resources for basic education by lessening the bias towardshigher education is one option. The Egyptian government could channelmore resources from university level to pre-university (especially basic)education while enhancing the access to higher education by introducingalternate methods of financing.

• Increasing investment expenditures is another. The composition of publiceducation expenditure in Egypt is characterized by a strong bias towardcurrent expenditures as observed earlier. This was the major reason for the

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shortage of schools especially in basic education, by which the poor are themost affected (especially girls).

Allocation of resources in the education sector must put greater emphasison investment expenditure in the coming years to increase the access of the pooreducation by making schools available. However, building more schools andallocating more resources to rural areas are not sufficient to make educationaccessible.

This requires targeting poor areas or communities. These could be, forexample, one or two villages in a governorate, parts of villages or urban slums.Targeting must be based on a schools shortage map, which would help keep thefiscal impact low. It has been proved in the past that by selectively targeting threegovernorates (Assuit, Menia and Dakahlia), the government was able to reachabout 30 per cent of children who are not attending primary school. A pro-gramme that can capture those children at risk of dropping out or never attend-ing school will be fiscally more sustainable than a universal initiative.

Targeting could also focus on enrolment rates and not only schools. Netenrolment rates can be increased in primary education by introducing targetedprogrammes to areas and schools with low enrolment rates. Targeted pro-grammes could also be introduced which would improve the chances of a childcompleting primary school. Steps that the government can take to establish suchprogrammes are:

1. pinpointing communities with low primary enrolment rate,

2. identifying the schools with low performance (through exams); and

3. targeting programmes to address these special problems.

Since poor girls are more vulnerable to be out of the education system andconstitute a large portion of out of school children, targeting girls also is essen-tial. Building schools is not sufficient for promoting girls’education. There mustalso be school mapping, i.e., the strategic placement of schools in areas of lowcoverage to bring schools closer to girls.

One of the major reasons of the non-accessibility of the poor to education(either by non-enrolment or by dropout) as was observed earlier is the low anddeclining quality of education, which led (especially when compared to its risingcost) to decrease the demand of the poor for education. Hence, to increase thedemand of the poor for education and thus, their access to education, its qualitymust be improved (whether in terms of internal or external efficiency).

Access to quality teaching and learning must be a pre-eminent concern.There is little point in expanding access unless there is reasonable quality. Thegovernment should seek to allocate more resources for teachers’ training, text-books and other classroom materials in poor areas. In this respect, schoolsshould be targeted. Net enrolment rates can be increased in primary educationby introducing targeted programmes to areas and schools with low enrolmentrates. This can be achieved, then, at low fiscal impact.


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A special attention to the quality of girls’education is also a necessity. Thisquality education for girls should contain elements such as staffing schools withfemale teachers, providing single-sex schools, improving teacher’s quality, anddeveloping and adopting curricula and teacher training that are more gendersensitive.

Making schools more affordableThe second major reason for the inaccessibility of poor children to education isits rising cost, which reduces its economic benefits and hence its rate of return.

The main policy to attract poor children to education and to retain as wellis to reduce or eliminate the burden of education costs for poor families. The firststep toward this goal is the return to totally free education, which means theelimination of all tuition and fees (declared or hidden) in basic education for allchildren.

A second measure is the provision of textbooks and stationery as well asschool uniforms for all children in basic education with a reduction or elimina-tion of their costs.

The abolition of “enhancement lessons” in schools and their replacementwith a system of incentives to teachers for class performance could reduce theburden of education costs to poor families, on the one hand, and re-establisheducation quality on the other. The system of teachers’ incentives could also helpMOE to track “private lessons” more effectively.

Eliminating tuition and school fees may not be sufficient to make educa-tion affordable for poor families’ children. They still have to bear other relatededucational costs in addition to the opportunity costs forgone. Targeted income-transfers in cash or in-kind to poor households with children based on observ-able criteria, such as children’s age, school attendance and class achievement,are a policy instrument that can make school affordable to the poor. This caninclude vouchers, subsidies (in cash or in kind), child allowances, and feewaivers for basic services.

The MOE should consider applying such measures – these have provedsuccessful in several other developing countries. They not only in enhance enrol-ment, but also make basis education measures sustainable by in enabling poorchildren to make the transition to the post-primary level.

In Asia, an “augmented subsidy” (covering fees, related costs for schoolattendance plus opportunity costs forgone) was first introduced in Sri Lankaby the government and later became popular in other countries. Recently,such subsidy has been introduced in Bangladesh and Guatemala for girls only,while vouchers (covering fees plus costs related to school attendance) wereintroduced in Columbia and Pakistan. So far, these measures have provedsuccessful at enhancing enrolment and retention rates among poor as wellas female students in those countries. Evaluations of the Bangladesh Foodfor Education Programme found that the transfer of 100 kilograms of riceincreased the probability of boys schooling by 17 per cent and that of girls by160 per cent.

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The Brazilian Bolsa Escola programme targets scholarships at regions andcommunities with high levels of child labour. The objective is to keep thechildren in school by compensating parents for the lost income earned bychildren. A preliminary evaluation suggests that there have been significantimprovements in school attendance. The Mexican PROGRESA scheme pro-vided health and education benefits for 1.9 million households in 1998, three-quarters of which were in the bottom quintile of the income distribution.Evaluation of PROGRESA found that the programme increased enrolment ingrades 3 to 6 by 2.2 percentage points and enrolment in grades 7 to 8 by 4.9 per-centage points.

The provision of nutrition in basic education in Egypt could also be a majorstep toward achieving several related objectives to improve health and schoolperformance and to encourage attendance among poor children. The MOE hasalready begun supplying a nutritional meal. However, there is a need for moreefforts to realize the full implementation of this nutrition scheme: targeting isvery important and poor areas and slums must be the first to benefit from thisscheme.

Making schools affordable also implies lowering the opportunity cost ofstaying in school. This could be done (in addition to subsidies which compen-sate for forgone income) by adjusting the school calendar to avoid peak periodsof labour demand in some regions (during the day or year). Providing flexibleschool hours through non-formal and formal education could be a solution forgirls who have households’ chores. It has proved effective in drawing girls intoprimary schools in different countries.

Enabling the poor to become educated requires not only that they haveaccess to basic education, but they are able to make the transition to post-pri-mary education. Improving the quality of education and making it affordable forthe poor will lead to the sustainability of education. Results from several stud-ies found that elimination of fees in Bangladesh and Guatemala, introduction ofvouchers in Colombia and Pakistan have increased students’ participation andtransition to the next cycle of education. Vouchers have enabled the poor to gainaccess to selected private schools that have excess capacity.

Making schools more functionalAdapting the curriculum (especially in basic education) to be functional for thestudent could improve the rate of return to education and increase access of thepoor to education. This could be achieved by including some technical educa-tion in the curriculum so that it can enhance the graduate’s chances for a job.Education policy must change to adapt the education system outputs to thelabour market needs.

A major problem in the educational system is the technical or vocationalsecondary schools, which are mainly attended by poor students, are of such badquality that most of the graduates are unemployed despite the labour marketneeds of “efficient” technical labour. This problem needs an urgent solution toredress the mismatch between the education system outputs and the labour


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market. Reforming technical schools would help decrease the demand for uni-versity education while matching the market demand.

Accommodating working children is also a way of making schools morefunctional. It may require adjustment of school schedules. Flexible schedulesmay prove the best option in many situations. Another way of accommodatingworking children is to locate classes near to or at the workplace.

Education should help equip working children with the realities of theirlife. Children must be taught basic skills, but should also be informed aboutworkplace dangers and how to deal with them. The MOE should also increasethe preparatory occupational (or vocational) schools after the primary stage.

Making schools more friendlyEnsuring a supportive environment, which includes girl-friendly regulations,will also be necessary to improve quality.

Regulations might include providing adequate basic services (particularlysanitary facilities for girls in schools), doctors and nurses, good ventilation,lighting and cleanness. They also might include dismissing teachers who harass,punish, or denigrate students, especially female students.

4.2.4 Framework of action for non-governmental organizations(NGOs)

If MOE should be responsible for mainstream education, NGOs could help agreat deal in complementing MOE efforts especially in the context of informaleducation by:

• Offering literacy programmes: examples of these are the non-formalschools established by Upper-Egypt Society (Jame’yyat Al Sa’eid). In thisrespect, attention must be given to the special needs of working children.The best way to provide schooling to those whose work is too heavy toallow for a normal school day may be to accommodate them in non-formalprogrammes to adopt schools to children and not children to school. Thereare other programmes that could be replicated by NGOs, like the KafrHakeem experiment for developing artistic crafts or the Ramsis WissaWassef Centre in Harraneya.

• Complementing MOE’s efforts in ameliorating mainstream basic educa-tion for poor children by financing or directly providing some materials orsupplies (meals, uniforms, educational supplies or vouchers), especially forgirls.

• Emulating the model of MOE one-classroom school and MOE andUNICEF community schools, which have proved to be successful.

• Offering literacy programmes for illiterate parents, since child work isinversely related to the education of both parents.

Recommendations

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4.2.5 Framework of action for the private sectorThe private sector can also help in combating child labour either through finan-cial help (grants, scholarships, financial aid schemes like subsidies and vouch-ers) or through offering vocational training and apprenticeship schemes to work-ing children while integrating education with work.


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AIR Apparent intake rate AQS Access to Primary Education and its Quality SurveyCAPMAS Central Agency for Public Mobilization and StatisticsCPM Capability poverty measureCRC Convention on the Rights of the Child DHS Demographic and Health Survey EHDR Egypt Human Development ReportELMS Egypt Labour Market Surveys EMICS Egyptian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey ERSAP Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment ProgrammeFHH Female-headed household GER Gross enrolment rateHIECS Household income expenditure and consumption surveys HPI Human Poverty Index ILO International Labour OrganizationINP Institute of National PlanningIPEC International Programme for the Elimination of Child LabourLFSS Labour force sample surveys MHH Male-headed householdMOE Ministry of Education NCSCR National Centre for Sociological and Criminological ResearchNER Net enrolment rateNIR Net intake rate NIR Net intake rate SFD Social Fund for DevelopmentUNDP United Nations Development ProgramUNESCO United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural OrganizationUNICEF United Nations Children’s FundUSAID United States Agency for International DevelopmentWFCL Worst forms of child labour

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