Female Education in Upper Egypt

Female education in Upper Egypt is very poor. Many females are illiterate and others drop out of school early. It is estimated that only thirty-eight percent of females in Upper Egypt are literate. Egypt is one out of 9 countries that is targeted for special focus in implementing the world-wide effort to provide “Education for All”. Therefore, many worldwide organizations studied female education in this region. According to the UNICEF the literacy rate for women can in fact be as low as ten percent for villages such as Mallawi and Al Minya. They also estimated that 250,000 girls quit school each year. The USAID indicates that 800,000 girls are out of school between the ages of 6 and 15 and 600,000 are out of school between the age of 6 and ten. The reason for the high illiteracy rate is mainly because girls and women are inferior in education access, because society shapes their role and underestimates their ability. Another reason is that they have to work at a very young age. Additionally girls are offered very poor education.

Although, home is the place where they should study, the atmosphere at home is not suitable. Firstly, the families have many children so that the younger ones make a lot of noise that prevent the older ones from concentrating during studying. Secondly, the mothers do not