By Ishak Ibrahim – Manassa (*) –
While the United Nations celebrates the International Day of Education on January 24th, emphasizing the need to provide equal access to quality education for all—critical for achieving development and equality—a surprising announcement was made by the government regarding the Ministry of Education’s plan to modify the secondary education system. The proposed changes include replacing the current high school diploma with a baccalaureate system and introducing reforms, such as making religious education a subject that contributes to the overall grade, instead of being a pass-or-fail subject as it has been for decades.
These changes raise numerous questions about their true objectives, particularly as they appear inconsistent with the frequently discussed goals of educational reform, including the integration of human rights, equality, coexistence, and acceptance of others into the curriculum. The reforms also contradict the educational goals outlined in Article 19 of the Constitution, which emphasize fostering concepts of citizenship, tolerance, and non-discrimination, as well as the pledge in the Strategic Vision for Education 2030 to provide high-quality, non-discriminatory education in an efficient and equitable institutional framework.
The current secondary education system is characterized by fairness, as it remains largely unaffected by the pervasive religious and class-based discrimination evident in various sectors of the state. Despite certain imbalances and added burdens, the existing system still ensures equal opportunities for all.
Equality of opportunity is under threat
Students in both public and private schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, follow the same curricula, sit for the same exams, and have their papers graded according to unified standards. These principles are fundamental and essential. However, the proposed new system undermines them. The Islamic Religious Education curriculum differs in its objectives, message, and content from the Christian Religious Education curriculum, and each is delivered by teachers with differing affiliations, intellectual perspectives, and religious orientations.
As such, it will become nearly impossible to ensure a standard criterion for equality in teaching methods, exam design, and student assessment. This is particularly concerning given that the Islamic curriculum often to compare religions and emphasizes the superiority of Islam as a primary source of virtues and positive values. While this may be acceptable in its context, the developers of Christian religious curricula are not afforded the same freedom to present their perspectives similarly.
Before announcing this plan, the Ministry of Education should have addressed longstanding criticisms regarding how religious education is currently taught in schools—issues evident even when the subject did not count toward the final grade, which highlight flagrant discrimination. For example, Christian students are forced to leave their classrooms and study in unprepared outdoor spaces, citing a lack of alternative facilities. Now that the subject will contribute to the final grade, will the ministry ensure proper classrooms for Christian students in already overcrowded schools?
The issue of teaching staff also arises. There are no specialized teachers for religious education. Islamic Religious Education is typically assigned to Arabic language teachers, while Christian Religious Education is assigned to any available Christian teacher, regardless of their primary subject expertise, qualifications, or even doctrinal alignment with the curriculum content.
The rationale for this decision, including claims that it is necessary to address students’ moral decline due to neglecting religious studies, falls short. Teaching ethics, values, and shaping students’ identities is a shared responsibility of religious institutions, families, and the broader society—not solely the school.
It is no secret to anyone that other curricular materials already contain a wealth of Islamic religious content. For instance, the Arabic calligraphy workbook for the third preparatory grade includes 62 texts for practice in Naskh and Ruq’ah script, 22 of which are drawn from the Quran and Hadith. The remaining texts feature Arab poets, jurists, and proverbs, with no representation of Christian or Jewish religious texts or heritage.
Therefore, this step cannot be understood in isolation from the broader trend of embedding religious elements into the educational process as a whole, and adding a conservative Islamic tone to it. This has been one of the major criticisms of the Egyptian educational system for decades. It is evident that curricula have been infused with Islamic orientations, embedding Islam into many aspects of public education in ways that emphasize Islamic identity while neglecting other influences, such as the impact of Christianity on Egyptian identity or the roles and conditions of Christians in political and social domains. This is particularly noticeable in Arabic language, history, and science textbooks, which often incorporate Quranic verses and prophetic sayings, requiring students of all religions to study, memorize, and be tested on them.
For instance, I will present three examples from Arabic language textbooks still in use, which appear to address only Muslim students even though they’re taught to students of different beliefs, thus illustrating the discriminatory tendencies of the official education system.
One such example is a lesson on the comparative adjective in the second semester Arabic curriculum for third preparatory grade, page 57, featuring the verse: “And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, ‘Indeed, I am of the Muslims’” (Quran, 41:33).
From the third secondary-schoolArabic language textbook, the fifth lesson presents the second example: a text titled “Human Values” by Dr. Shawqi Daif. This text glorifies Islam and its promotion of religious values, emphasizing the idea of “kindness” toward “Ahl al-Dhimma” (People of the Covenant). However, this term, rooted in religious and historical contexts, signifies rights granted according to Islamic law, which have since been surpassed by the modern principle of equal citizenship, ensuring rights regardless of religion or belief.
While the aim of teaching humanity within Islam might be noble, presenting it in this manner implicitly excludes non-Muslims. It suggests that other religions or the histories of those who followed them do not contribute significant human values.
Islamic-style Tolerance
For Arabic language students in their third year of high school, the curriculum includes a short story titled The Church Lit Up by the late author Ibrahim Aslan. The story describes a harmonious relationship between a Muslim and a Christian family, as illustrated in the following passage: “Uncle Mansour’s Christian family lived next to us, whether at home or on the beach. They contributed their share of small coins the children collected to decorate the alley and did not break their fast until the call to prayer. We exchanged the metal trays used to bake cookies, biscuits, and shortbread, carried them together to the nearby bakery, and stayed up until morning, each family retrieving its trays. We visited each other on the holiday.”
Despite the story’s appealing title, it follows the same general trend of the educational curriculum, where the framework for coexistence centers on the benevolence and tolerance of Islam and Muslims. This is reflected in depictions of Christians congratulating Muslims on their holidays and occasions, which are portrayed as the central events, but never the reverse—Muslims celebrating Christian religious and social events. This is a recurring and contentious issue raised annually.
The reasons for opposing the government’s proposal are numerous, with the primary concern being to avoid the potential for religious sectarianism. This could arise as each group accuses the other of designing curricula and exams that are easier, granting an unfair advantage in securing higher grades. Such accusations would lead to rumors and tensions, reinforcing negative stereotypes about the other religious group.
Additionally, this change could create a new market for private tutoring in religious education courses, adding financial burdens to families, contrary to the ministry’s claims of reducing costs as a motive for the reform.
On another level, religious and spiritual values intended to be instilled in students risk losing their meaning and substance, as they would be reduced to rote memorization to answer exam questions based on pre-approved models. This approach often produces individuals with closed minds who are intolerant of differences, thus undermining the ministry’s claim that the new system aligns with modern educational goals of fostering critical thinking and creativity.
Since July 2013, six ministers have led the Ministry of Education, each presenting ambitious education reform plans. However, none achieved tangible progress, as each attempted to reinvent the wheel with visions disconnected from their predecessors’ initiatives, other countries’ experiences, or expert recommendations.
Teaching religious education in public schools should always include clear safeguards for religious or ideological minorities, per the Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools. Students should have the option to opt-out of religious instruction that conflicts with their beliefs. Educational policies should aim to promote human rights, respect for religious diversity, and pluralism. Care must also be taken to avoid incorporating incorrect or biased content into the curriculum, particularly if it reinforces negative stereotypes.
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(*) Translated by Coptic Solidarity from: https://manassa.news/stories/21654?fbclid=IwY2xjawHzP_dleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRqI8zrRvrzalNPcjhMnol5T7m0B9WRa2d2_Sp3q6g0bCivdoJKEJCdiGQ_aem_dIXRaMdKgXBm98shu0sXXg
