CAIRO: We have heard, read and even witnessed their constant suffering. It s the hardest two years of their lives, or so they believe. According to both students and parents, August is when it all begins. Private lessons start after a very short summer break and everyone has to take them because unfortunately “teachers have forgotten why they go to work every morning.
Students too don t have the option of skipping school because that will shave off points from their total grade.
Each private lesson eats up about two hours a day, not to mention the eight spent at school doing very little. The rest of the day is spent studying.
It s not just a burden for the children but also for the parents, who can barely afford it. They pay around LE 1,000 for private lessons a year which leaves them swimming in debt.
“All this is for nothing, they say, “because at the end there are very limited job opportunities for their kids. It s as if it was all for nothing.
And with all the pressure to make the grades to get into the faculty they want; students have taken it to extremes.
They don’t sleeping or eat properly, say parents. One student couldn t handle all the pressure so he tore up the exam paper along with his answer sheet in the middle of the examination.
Another completely broke down and poisoned himself, the press once reported.
“Every year as the exams draw nearer there are so many suicides that you would actually think the ministry of education would do something about I like change the curriculum, let students choose the subjects they enjoy learning, or make the exams easier, said one parent.
