section_path: Demographics/Education
section_name: Education
paragraph_text: Education
  
  In 2022, Egypt's adult literacy rate was 74.5%, compared to 71.1% in 2017. Literacy is lowest among those over 60 years of age, at 35.1%, and highest among youth between 15 and 24 years of age, at 92.2%.
  
  A European-style education system was first introduced in Egypt by the Ottomans in the early 19th century to nurture a class of loyal bureaucrats and army officers. Under British occupation, investment in education was curbed drastically, and secular public schools, which had previously been free, began to charge fees.
  
  In the 1950s, President Nasser phased in free education for all Egyptians. The Egyptian curriculum influenced other Arab education systems, which often employed Egyptian-trained teachers. Demand soon outstripped the level of available state resources, causing the quality of public education to deteriorate. Today this trend has culminated in poor teacher–student ratios (often around one to fifty) and persistent gender inequality.
  
  Basic education, which includes six years of primary and three years of preparatory school, is a right for Egyptian children from the age of six. After grade 9, students are tracked into one of two strands of secondary education: general or technical schools. General secondary education prepares students for further education, and graduates of this track normally join higher education institutes based on the results of the Thanaweya Amma, the leaving exam.
  
  Technical secondary education has two strands, one lasting three years and a more advanced education lasting five. Graduates of these schools may have access to higher education based on their results on the final exam, but this is generally uncommon.
  
  Cairo University is Egypt's premier public university. The country is currently opening new research institutes with the aim of modernising scientific research and development; the most recent example is Zewail City of Science and Technology. Egypt was ranked 86th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023, up from 92nd in 2019.