University education and the labour market in the Arab Republic of Egypt

Abstract

At head of title: UNESCO, International Institute for Educational Planning.

Incl. statistical data

Incl. bibl.

This text provides information on the economic characteristics and the educational status of the labour force, and describes the educational structure of the country. Then, the findings of the surveys on the students, graduates and employers are described. The expansion of higher education in Egypt has created as many problems as it has solved, especially in the context of the "guarranteed employment" scheme for graduates initiated in 1961. The problems related not only to quantitative aspects of the relationship between education and employment, but to qualitative aspects as well. The high unit and opportunity cost in higher education, the particular social and political significance of universities and the responsibility of the higher education system in guiding and developing other levels of education make it imperative that a special effort be directed towards the analysis of both the qualitative and quantitative discrepancies that have developed in the higher education system.