Educational opportunities available to illiterate females in some Upper Egyptian governorates in the light of some demographic factors  

 "An evaluative study"

Dr. Fifi Ahmed Tawfik Khalil[1]

Summary

          Currently, illiteracy is one of the greatest social evils that affect the Egyptian society compared to the rapid and massive growth in the various fields of knowledge causing changes in the economic, political and cultural structures...etc. This requires a real awareness of the problem, at all social and educational levels in order to be able to face the challenges of the third millennium; it necessitates a new man with new requirements to enable him to play a part in developing himself and his community

          Hence, the rapid development made education, in general, and woman education, in particular, a vital issue that is related to the life and development of nations as it became a scale of its revival. Therefore, educating and developing the Egyptian woman is a must for a number of considerations, i.e., being a wife, a mother and a house wife who is responsible for providing a good upbringing her children because they are the future builders. Consequently, female education affects the woman, the family and the whole community because it helps her in discovering her potential abilities, enhancing her health awareness and equipping her with the ability to take decisions and planning a life that she desires of.

         Therefore, the current study mainly aims at:

  • Investigating the educational opportunities available to illiterate females in Upper Egypt's governorates (Minia, Assiut and Sohag) in the period from 2010 to 2015.
  • Investigating the efforts made to eliminate the illiteracy of illiterate females in Upper Egypt's governorates (Minia, Assiut and Sohag) whether by the national authority of adult education or by governmental or non-governmental organizations and associations in the field of eliminating illiteracy in the period from 2010 to 2015 and identifying whether they are appropriate or not.
  • Identifying the obstacles handicapping illiterate females in Upper Egypt's governorates (Minia, Assiut and Sohag) and providing techniques to overcome them.
  • Providing a proposed design to enhance and increase the educational opportunities available to illiterate females in Upper Egypt's governorates (Minia, Assiut and Sohag) that fit the size of illiteracy in these governorates and confirming the availability of education to everyone (whether a male or a female) as a human right guaranteed by all heavenly religion.    

     The sample of the current study comprised 620 subjects of the total sample (i.e., 7000 subjects) representing 8.8% of the community. It was intentionally and randomly selected so that it represents the greatest percentage of the study's community in Minia, Assiut and Sohag. The study tool, i.e. a questionnaire created by the researcher to identify the obstacles handicapping illiterate females' education in Upper Egypt's governorates (Minia, Assiut and Sohag), was applied to the study subjects.

It has resulted in the following:

  • There are many efforts made to eliminate the illiteracy of females in Upper Egypt's governorates (Minia, Assiut and Sohag) whether by the national authority of adult education or by governmental or non-governmental organizations and associations in this field. However, they are weak and cannot fit the problem.
  • There are statistically significant differences on the mean responses of the subjects (in terms of gender male and female) to the sections of the questionnaire.
  • There are statistically significant differences on the mean responses of the three samples (in terms of the educational level: intermediate, higher, upper- high) to the phrases of the first section "i.e., obstacles of planning and organization"; the phrases of the third section "i.e., obstacles of assessment and monitoring"; and the phrases of the fourth section "social obstacles" in favor of the intermediate level. However, there are not statistically significant differences between the responses of the subjects to the second, fifth and sixth sections.
  • There are statistically significant differences on the mean responses of the three samples (in terms of years of experience (1-5 years), (6-10 years) and (more than 10 years) to the phrases of the first section "i.e., obstacles of planning and organization" and the phrases of the third section "i.e., obstacles of assessment and monitoring" in favor of (1-5 years). 
  • There are not statistically significant differences on the mean responses of the three samples to the phrases of second section "i.e., obstacles of finance and preparation"; the phrases of the fourth section "i.e. social obstacles"; the phrases of the fifth section "i.e., economic obstacles" and the phrases of the sixth section "i.e. techniques of overcoming the obstacles".

Therefore, a proposed design has been provided to support and activate illiterate females' education in Upper Egypt's governorates and to overcome the obstacles of their education. It comprises various items, as follows: benchmarks of the proposed design- principles of the proposed design's benchmarks- aims of the proposed design- requirements of applying the proposed design- procedures of the proposed design- guarantees of achieving the proposed design

 An assistant professor of Fundamentals of Education, Sohag Faculty of Education, Sohag University