Mansoura, EGYPT – By the end of this year, many teens are getting ready to apply to universities and begin to take courses on whatever they’ve always wanted to study.
Unfortunately, it’s not this easy here in Egypt. Students here must pass through a dramatic journey just to choose their majors. In our culture, society views anyone who didn’t attend medical or engineering schools as a failure, said several teens who spoke with Youth Journalism International.
“Nobody says that you should go to a medical school, but it’s your only option to be considered as a respected student, “ said Mahmoud Shaban, 19.
Teens here don’t choose their majors according to what they like, but they choose it according to their family’s opinion, and the major rank it has in society.
“It depends on what your family and community thinks,” said Yahia Fawzallah, 18. “They put you under a really high pressure to choose what they want.”
Teens here classified university schools according to importance and need in Egypt. We can say the most sought after schools are always medical and engineering followed by some schools like science, and then the least wanted schools, such as the arts, law, business and all literature schools.
Society considers students for those least wanted majors as failures.
Many students end up studying a major that they never wanted, just to make sure that they will have a stable future – especially during the hard economic crisis that Egypt is now passing through.
For some, a desired major may lead to a way out of the country.
“Doctors and engineers are mistreated in Egypt, so we are studying these majors to have the opportunity of working abroad as these majors are the most required around the world,” said Mahmoud Shaban, 19.
Family, friends, society, and the economic crisis are important factors affecting a teen’s decision to study what they want.
Many youth feel forced to study majors that don’t interest them. With a lot of confusion and lack of consultation, they often simply follow what others want.
Teachers and university professors approached by Youth Journalism International for this story refused to speak about the issue and offered no explanation.
Ahmed Elkhamisy is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
