CAIRO: A report issued by the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) identified education, employment and immigration as the three main issues affecting the Egyptian youth, who make up the majority of the population.
The report focused on the youth in the 10¬¬–29 years old age bracket.
Education
Twenty-one percent of this age group cannot read or write, the report said, either because they dropped out of elementary school or never enrolled to begin with. These include 27 percent of females and 15.4 percent of males.
The illiteracy rate differs according to the economic status, as only 2.5 percent in the highest economic class is illiterate while 41.5 percent of the lowest economic class is illiterate.
According to the report, there are three main reasons why this bulk of the population is uneducated. Twenty-four percent of the uneducated have parents who refused to send them to school.
Another reason is the high cost of education, the report said. Moreover, 66 percent of this bulk did not seek an education due to the belief that girls should not be sent to school.
On the other hand, 75 percent of the youth agree on not prioritizing boys over girls in education.
The rate of school dropouts is 12.5 percent, which according to the report also has three main reasons. First, the absence of the will to continue education, second, dropping out in order to work, which is the main reason for boys, and third, the inability to afford education and unwillingness to send girls to school.
Out of the youth who participated in the research, 27.3 percent were not satisfied with the educational system.
Employment
The report showed that 64.8 of those surveyed work in the unofficial private sector.
There are currently more than 22 percent looking for jobs. Moreover, 66.5 percent own private businesses and plan on continuing in it.
The unemployment rate for the 15–29 age bracket is 15.8 percent, 12.5 percent of whom are females and 21.7 percent of whom are males. More than 14 percent of these rely on family to look for a job.
There is a general feeling of pessimism, the report said, as 54 percent of males don’t believe they’ll find a job and are tired of looking for work, with 35 percent of females sharing the same sentiment.
According to the IDSC report, about 81 percent say it’s the responsibility of the state to provide job opportunities, while more than 40 percent believe that favoritism and nepotism are the primary reasons people find jobs.
Furthermore, about 60 percent of males prefer to own their private business, and 22 percent of males already devised projects.
Immigration
The final part of the report focused on immigration, stating that 19.7 percent of the youth between the ages of 18–21 and 14.7 percent of the 25–29 age group want to immigrate, with no major discrepancy between urban and rural areas.
The reasons those surveyed identified for immigration include the lack of job opportunities in Egypt, low income and bad living conditions. On the other hand, by going abroad 72 percent believe they will earn a lot of money.
The countries chosen for immigration are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
