Tertiary education

some of the contributing factors that may be responsible for these challenges are at the sectoral level, which requires more targeted efforts to provide incentives for poor families and girls to enroll and stay in school. International evidence shows that reaching the poorest children, children with disabilities, and girls requires more tailored efforts accompanied by dedicated resources (UKAID 2018). The lack of attention to raising awareness about population issues and reproductive health in the curriculum is another missed opportunity for building understanding and changing behaviors from an early age.

At the societal level, traditional and cultural norms have a strong influence on daily life in Egypt and are a contributing factor to sustained gender norms and attitudes around the roles of women and men, women’s subordinate social status, and men’s influence on decisions related to fertility and desired family size. Male bias also remains the norm in many spheres, although it is less prevalent in education.

On the economic front, low rates of female labor force participation are persistent at approximately 23 percent, which is contrary to the evidence in the literature that points to a positive correlation between girls’ education and female employment. The rate is largely the result of structural issues in labor market demand, but supply-side conditions also notably create a mismatch between female education and skills demanded in the labor market. Most women in Egypt are employed in the public sector, but with a reduction in public sector jobs, job opportunities are scant. On the demand side, the low labor force participation rate indicates a lag in shifting social norms, in promoting the skill sets that can attract women and girls to the changing world of work, and in incentivizing employers to recruit females.

TERTIARY EDUCATION

In recent years, there has been a significant rise in tertiary education enrollment in Egypt, largely because of the higher number of secondary school graduates and school- and university-age population growth. From 2015 to 2020, enrollment in tertiary education grew from 2.7 million to 3.2 million. Although this expansion is an achievement, it poses a substantial financial and logistical challenge. Moreover, the gross enrollment rate (gER) for higher education is expected to increase by 25 percent—from 31 percent in 2014 to almost 39 percent in 2025 (figure 4.1). given the current trend, and assuming full capacity of existing provision without fundamental changes to delivery models, over 4 million seats for higher education students will be needed by 2025 (figure 4.2).

The substantial increase in female tertiary education enrollment is an important achievement. Female enrollment in public universities accounts for 55 percent of the total enrollment, highlighting impressive advances in female educational attainment over the past few years. There has also been substantial progress in terms of gender equity in higher education. The ratio of females to males with higher education degrees increased from 7 to 10 in 2015 to 12 to 10 in 2017.2

Over the past two years, the government of Egypt has launched several initiatives meant to expand access to tertiary education as well as improve the quality and relevance of the sector to better match labor market needs. Initiatives to increase access to tertiary education include increasing enrollment in nonpublic universities and launching nonprofit “for fee” branches of