This chapter reviews the progress Egypt has made in closing gaps between men and women in education participation, attainment and performance. It describes the policy landscape promoting the improvements to the quality, accessibility and competitiveness of its education system, as well as efforts to eradicate illiteracy. It considers the benefits of early childhood education and care for children, mothers and wider society, but notes that progress in widening participation has slowed. It then looks into the reasons why some girls continue to drop out of education early and remain out of both education and employment. It also considers the role of technical education in providing the skills the labour market needs. The chapter ends with concrete policy recommendations.
Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt
Abstract
Egypt has made significant strides in closing gaps between boys’ and girls’ educational enrolment, attainment and outcomes, although differences persist in the fields of study they choose to pursue.
Women in Egypt are more educated than ever before and participate in tertiary education at higher rates than men.
Educational outcomes differ between socio-economic groups, based on their gender, age, income level and geographic location. Illiteracy rates remain higher for women, and for people living in rural areas. Of the 2 million young women aged 15-29 who do not know how to read and write, three-quarters live in rural areas.
Traditional gender norms that result in a higher burden of unpaid domestic and care work, and high rates of early marriage, mean adolescent girls are particularly at risk of dropping out of upper secondary school.
To make further progress, targeted promotion of girls’ participation in education and tackling early school leaving will be key, especially in rural and disadvantaged areas. Encouraging enrolment in high-quality early childhood education and care and encouraging more girls to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and technical education will make better use of Egypt’s talent pool.
Access to education and skills development is key to enabling both men and women in Egypt to participate actively in the workforce, supporting increased productivity, innovation, social cohesion and economic progress.
As part of its reforms to improve the educational achievements of all children, Egypt has made impressive strides towards improving girls’ educational outcomes in recent decades. Today, women in Egypt are better educated than ever before and have closed gender gaps in educational attainment at all levels. This offers immense potential for boosting women’s opportunities in an evolving labour market. Yet challenges persist, as Egypt’s education system amplifies inequalities in opportunities across socio-economic groups, with high rates of illiteracy persisting among women in rural areas, for example. Moreover, women are still concentrated in gender-stereotypical educational pathways and study programmes, often with poor labour market prospects. To ensure that education works for all, Egypt needs to address capacity barriers and improve the overall quality of education, while also tackling harmful social norms and stereotypes.
This chapter reviews the progress Egypt has made in closing educational gaps between men and women at all levels. Section 5.2 looks at trends in enrolment, attainment and learning outcomes and the policies that have contributed to Egypt’s educational progress and success in tackling illiteracy. Section 5.3 considers the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the opportunities to improve both participation and quality. Section 5.4 examines the reasons why some girls continue to drop out of education early, while Section 5.5 reviews the role of technical education in helping to unlock young women’s talents, giving them the skills the labour market needs. Section 5.6 closes the chapter with a set of recommendations to enable policymakers to make further progress in expanding women and girls’ participation in education, extending the benefits of ECEC to more of society, and further strengthening the take up of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies among Egypt’s women.
Widening access to education has helped to close gaps between women and men at all levels and by all measures
Over the past 20 years, total enrolment has steadily increased across primary, secondary and tertiary level, in line with the growth of the population. Virtually all girls and boys in Egypt are enrolled in primary education, with a gross enrolment rate in 2024 of 97% for both boys and girls (World Bank, 2025[1]). In 2025, the tertiary gross enrolment rate reached 39% for women and 37% for men, although it remains lower than the rate for women in most other MENA countries (Figure 1.1). Female students now slightly outnumber their male counterparts, reflecting the impact of targeted government initiatives such as scholarship programmes and awareness campaigns to promote girls’ education (NCW, 2024[2]). Women make up a slight majority of students in public universities (53%), which could be considered the most prestigious higher education sector (CAPMAS, 2023[3]). The share reaches 59% of all enrolled students at postgraduate level (CAPMAS, 2023[4]).
Gross enrolment (%) in tertiary education, 2025, or latest year available.
Note: Gross enrolment is the total enrolment, regardless of age, divided by the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. The average for the MENA region was computed using the gross enrolment rates from the MENA countries included in the figure.
Source: World Bank (2025[1]), World Development Indicators (DataBank), https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (accessed August 2025).
Women are also catching up with men in their educational attainment at all levels. In 2012, among people aged 25 and over, 51% of men and 39% of women in Egypt had at least an upper secondary education. By 2023, the shares reached 61% for men and 51% for women (World Bank, 2025[5]). Girls are now outperforming boys in completing high school and the Thanaweya Amma school leaving exam, even in rural Upper Egypt.1 While women represented 39% of students enrolled in higher education in 2023/2024, they made up 53% of higher education graduates (CAPMAS, 2024[6]).
Learning outcomes are improving for both girls and boys although they remain low in international comparisons. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) found reading skills at grade 4 had improved between 2016 to 2021 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which might be attributable to improvements in the education system (Patrinos, Jakubowski and Gajderowicz, 2024[7]). Nevertheless, Egypt scores lower than other countries participating in the assessment (Mullis et al., 2023[8]). Girls outperform boys in mathematics and science, according to the results of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment (Mullis et al., 2024[9]), although students’ performance in these disciplines is also low by international standards.
Greater participation in education has greatly reduced female illiteracy. In 2022, 69% of women aged 15+ were literate, up from 63% in 2013 (World Bank, 2025[1]). This figure, however, hides differences based on age, income level and geographic location. According to the 2017 census, of the 2 million young women aged 15 to 29 in Egypt who were illiterate, 75% lived in rural areas (World Bank, 2018[10]).
As in many other countries, families’ socio-economic background – notably their level of wealth and education – influences educational outcomes in Egypt (Ersado and Gignoux, 2017[11]). A study using data from the 2014 population survey found that students from the richest quantile of families were more likely to enter higher education, and achieved a better score in the Thanawiya Amma exam (Abdelkhalek and Langsten, 2020[12]).
Education reforms and government initiatives have helped to improve attainment and tackle illiteracy
Changes to the school year have improved educational attainment among Egyptian children, especially those from economically vulnerable backgrounds. In the late 1980s, Egypt put in place a major educational reform that shortened primary education from six years to five, while keeping preparatory education at three years. At the same time, the school year was lengthened. This led to a net gain in teaching hours: before the reform, students attended school for a total of 288 weeks over a period of 9 years, whereas afterwards, they attended for a total of 304 weeks over 8 years (OECD, 2015[13]). The evidence suggests that girls, particularly those from rural or low-income households, reaped the bulk of the benefits of this reform, both in terms of improved educational achievements and in social and economic outcomes later in their lives (Elsayed and Marie, 2020[14]). These gains are probably due to lower-income families re-assessing the opportunity costs of letting their children complete secondary education. In 2020, the Ministry of Education exempted female heads of household from school fees.
The Government of Egypt has set ambitious policy priorities to improve the quality, accessibility and competitiveness of its educational system. Extensive investment in school construction since the 1980s, supported by specific programmes in favour of girls’ education, have strengthened the participation of girls in school programmes. The Education Sector Plan for Egypt 2023-2027 aims to boost capacity across all levels of education, although these ambitions rely on private and other non-state funding (Ministry of Education and Technical Education, 2023[15]). The government has established 200 community schools in the neediest areas. Recent campaigns led by the Ministry of Education, such as the Girls Education Initiative, have particularly targeted rural areas. The Haya Karima project has expanded access to education by reducing classroom overcrowding and improving school infrastructure, including by constructing or replacing over 15 000 classrooms and rehabilitating 1 300 schools, more than half of which are located in Upper Egypt. However, current government spending on education (fiscal year 2023/24) is estimated at 7.7% of total public spending, which is below the 10% average government spending on education across OECD countries (from primary to tertiary level) (OECD, 2023[16]).
Egypt has also put in place various programmes and initiatives to eradicate illiteracy. These have been led by the Egyptian General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education, in co-ordination with related ministries and civil society. For example, Ain Shams University launched online literacy classes and digital training programmes for rural areas, which won the 2021 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy (Egypt Independent, 2021[17]). According to Egypt Today, in 2021, over 58 000 teachers and mentors were trained in teaching literacy classes, providing job opportunities for young graduates in illiteracy eradication programmes (Egypt Today, 2021[18]). That same year, the Egyptian authorities managed to lift 410 000 people out of illiteracy (Egypt Today, 2021[18]).
There have also been initiatives to address education and literacy gaps among women, especially in rural areas. The National Council for Women (NCW) has launched several initiatives, including the National Project for the Development of the Egyptian Family, aimed at improving family well-being and women’s education, and a collaboration with UN Women on Closing the Gender Gap in Education, which targets barriers to girls’ education in rural communities (NCW, 2024[2]).
Differences between women and men persist in the fields they choose to study
Female students are over-represented in fields with poorer labour market outcomes. For instance they are more likely to study subjects such as education, and Islamic and Arab studies, which are often characterised by higher unemployment rates and lower wages for graduates (UNESCO, 2021[19]). The latest data from Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) indicate that women comprise only 31.3% of students in information and communications technology (ICT), and 30.5% in engineering degrees, but form the majority of graduates in health and welfare (61%) and natural sciences (56%). However, although women remain under-represented in engineering, computer science, IT and law, the share of female students in these fields is higher than in many other countries.
Girls need to be encouraged to consider STEM careers well before post-secondary education. Teachers and parents can play a significant role in addressing gender biases and encouraging girls’ interest in STEM. In particular, female science and mathematics teachers have been shown to act as role models, motivating girls to form STEM career aspirations (Ahmed and Mudrey, 2018[20]; Breda et al., 2021[21]). Evidence from policy interventions in French high schools found that the most effective role model interventions are improving students’ perceptions of STEM careers, without the need to overemphasise that women are under-represented in these fields (Breda et al., 2021[21]). A number of OECD countries have used mentoring programmes and teacher education to enable girls to make informed decisions about their future careers (Box 1.1).
Mentorship programmes help girls identify positive role models, including by drawing inspiration from women in high-level positions in public and private companies. Mentorship programmes increase self-confidence, boost communication skills, and durably enhance leadership qualities, which will benefit girls during their careers.
A number of OECD countries have programmes encouraging girls to consider a STEM career. GirlsInSTEM, a collaboration of organisations from Belgium, France, Spain and Poland, was launched in 2020 to organise bootcamps for girls to engage with STEM and provide toolkits for educators (GirlsInSTEM, 2020[22]; OECD, 2023[23]). In 2017, the OECD and the Government of Mexico jointly launched the programme NiñaSTEM PUEDEN, which aims to stimulate the interest of Mexican girls in STEM subjects. The programme consists of educational meetings outside of the classroom with female mentors who are successful in STEM fields (Government of Mexico, 2017[24]). Another Mexican programme, Codigo X, promotes the inclusion of girls and young women in ICT professions through workshops, conferences and hackathons. Participants learn about digital literacy, robotics and programming, as well as career opportunities in ICT (OECD, 2018[25]) The Alianza STEAM por el talento feminino (STEM Alliance for Female Talent) is an initiative by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training that aims to promote STEM occupations for girls and young women. The platform bundles several initiatives across Spain and in its regions that are implemented through a network of organisations and companies that have joined the alliance (Governent of Spain, 2024[26]).
Some countries have focused on training teachers to help young people discover their STEM abilities. Under the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) programme, the United States Department of Education provides federal grants to support teaching excellence through evidence-based education, professional development and training activities for educators in primary and secondary schools. In 2020, the department provided a total of USD 73.7 million in federal grants to different projects across the country, many with a focus on teaching in STEM subjects (U.S. Department of Education, 2020[27]; 2024[28]).
Since the 1990s, the Egyptian Government has supported various initiatives to attract girls to STEM subjects, notably through the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. For example, the academy manages various awards to celebrate achievements in the fields of science and technology by Egyptian women (British Council, 2021[29]). Non-government organisations (NGOs) and private companies have also put in place initiatives to encourage female participation in STEM. For instance, General Electric has run a mentoring workshop for female high school students from New Cairo to nurture their interest in pursuing STEM careers. Mentoring and role models have shown to have concrete positive results in stimulating girls’ interest in STEM fields (GE Vernova, 2023[30]; Stoeger et al., 2013[31]). The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education co-founded two boarding STEM high schools – one for boys and one for girls – inaugurated in 2011 and 2012 in an innovative transdisciplinary and female-friendly approach to ensuring equitable STEM education opportunities.
High-quality and accessible early childhood education and care (ECEC) has a doubly positive effect: on children, and on their mothers. High-quality ECEC has short- and long-term benefits for children’s learning, development and well-being, giving all children a strong and equitable start and improving social and educational outcomes at a later stage (OECD, 2021[32]; Krafft et al., 2024[33]). Readily available and affordable ECEC can also significantly lower women’s burden of unpaid domestic and care work and has been shown to support mothers’ return to the labour market, allowing more women to take on paid employment (OECD, 2018[34]), as discussed in more detail in Chapter 6.
Enrolment in pre-primary education has plateaued in recent years in both absolute and relative terms. The number of children in pre-primary education reached just below 1.5 million (1 480 256) in 2018/19, but then fell to approximately 1 425 420 in 2022/23, before increasing again to 1 477 427 in 2023/24. In 2021, gross enrolment in pre-primary education stood at 29% for both boys and girls, below the average for the MENA region (World Bank, 2025[1]). According to CAPMAS, 23.3% of children of pre-primary age were enrolled in 2023/24.
A slowdown in fertility offers Egypt the opportunity to boost participation while containing costs. The population of pre-primary school age children is projected to decline by about 14% between 2025 and 2035 (UNICEF, 2024[35]). Egypt can use this as a window of opportunity to improve the supply and quality of pre-primary education in line with the ambition of the Education Sector Plan (Ministry of Education and Technical Education, 2023[15]).
ECEC needs to be not just accessible, but also of high quality if it is to have a positive impact on children’s development and learning outcomes. Egypt’s Education Sector Plan also envisions improving the quality of pre-primary education services (Ministry of Education and Technical Education, 2023[15]). The Ministry of Education and Technical Education has developed quality standards and a quality assurance monitoring framework for ECEC facilities and is developing incentives and sanctions to improve compliance. In addition, efforts to improve the governance of pre-primary education are underway. Box 1.2 describes the approaches used in some OECD countries to increase the quality of ECEC provision.
OECD countries have taken a variety of policy approaches to improve access to ECEC and affordability for disadvantaged and low-income families. These include childcare allowances, tax deductions and discount schemes for families on low income. For example, Estonia limits childcare fees to 20% of the monthly minimum wage. In Germany, low-income families and other vulnerable households are exempt entirely from paying for ECEC. Norway caps fees for ECEC at a maximum of 6% of gross household income, and low-income parents have a right to 20 hours of free childcare. Between 2021 and 2026, Canada is rolling out a large-scale ECEC reform towards a country-wide Early Learning and Childcare System which guarantees childcare at a maximum cost of CAD 10 a day. Earlier reforms with a similar capping of costs in the province of Québec led to greater labour market participation among mothers.
Many OECD countries have developed quality assurance strategies for ECEC. These might include educational requirements and professional development opportunities for staff, or minimum quality standards. Iceland, for example, requires pre-primary teachers to have training at master’s level; however, a shortage of qualified staff means that in practice many ECEC staff have lower educational qualifications. Some countries have vocational standards for ECEC professionals, and in Czechia, ECEC staff have an obligation to participate in continuous education and training. The Danish and Norwegian governments have introduced minimum standards for child-staff ratios.
Source: OECD (2019[36])., Providing Quality Early Childhood Education and Care: Results from the Starting Strong Survey 2018, https://doi.org/10.1787/301005d1-en.
Early marriage and teenage motherhood are the main drivers behind girls dropping out of school
As children reach secondary school age, their risk of dropping out of school increases. Leaving school early has negative effects on individuals’ skills development and their economic outcomes later in life, as well as on the economic and social development of Egypt as a whole. Although school enrolment rates are close to universal for both girls and boys in primary education, they fall markedly in secondary education (Figure 1.2). In Egypt, the share of out-of-school adolescents among those of lower secondary school age stood at 3.1% for boys and 1.6% for girls in 2021. This rate increases markedly in upper secondary school, and the difference between girls and boys reverses, with 22.7% of boys and 24.1% of girls of that age range out of school (World Bank, 2025[37]). According to CAPMAS data from 2022, rural Upper Egypt remains the area with the highest risk of female school dropouts.
Percentage (%) of out-of-school adolescents of lower/upper secondary school age by gender, 2021
Note: Out-of-school adolescents are the percentage of lower/upper secondary school-age adolescents who are not enrolled in school.
Panel A refers to data from 2021 or the latest available year, Panel B refers to data from 2021 or the latest available year.
Source: UIS (n.d.[38]), Data browser for Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) data, https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/browser/EDUCATION/UIS-SDG4Monitoring (accessed 22 July 2024).
There are many reasons why students in Egypt drop out of school early, but the drivers can be different for girls than for boys. The available literature associates high dropout rates in Egypt with socio-economic factors, such as household poverty and low parental literacy, and dimensions of school quality including time to learn, material resources and teacher quality (Lloyd et al., 2003[39]; Zaki Ewiss, Abdelgawad and Elgendy, 2019[40]; Selim and Rezk, 2023[41]). Recent data from the 2023 Egypt Labour Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) show that reported reasons for dropping out of school include lack of success at school (1.19%), work (0.99%), parental opposition (3.15%) and marriage (1.37%). Although these data are not disaggregated by gender, earlier gender-disaggregated evidence from the 2018 ELMPS indicates that dropout reasons differ markedly between boys and girls: for boys, the main reasons are poor performance/no interest in continuing education (37% of those dropping out of school) and getting a job (35%), while more than half (53%) of girls dropping out of school cite marriage as the reason (Ministry of Education and Technical Education, 2023[15]). There is also evidence of a strong interdependence between girls’ dropout rates and the practice of early marriage (Zaki Ewiss, Abdelgawad and Elgendy, 2019[40]).
Early marriage is far more prevalent among girls in Egypt than among boys. According to the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI; see Box 3.1 in Chapter 3), in 2023, 26% of Egyptian girls aged 15-19 were married,2 compared to 1% of boys (OECD, 2023[42]). Despite a strong legal framework that strictly bans child marriage, more than a quarter of teenage girls in Egypt have been married, with a bigger incidence of the phenomenon in rural areas (Hussein Eldessouki, Abd Elhakim Quodi and Mahmoud Ahmed Hassane, 2020[43]; OECD, 2023[42]). As well as the impact on their education, early marriage puts girls at risk of experiencing a violation of their human rights, including freedom of movement, the right to consensual marriage, their reproductive rights, and the right to reproductive and sexual health care. Early marriage makes them more vulnerable to violence, discrimination and abuse, and prevents girls and women from fully participating in economic, political and social life.
Teenage pregnancy rates are falling but early motherhood continues to impact women’s educational attainment. Although the number of births per 1 000 girls aged 15-19 has dropped during the past decade (from 58.3 in 2010 to 42 in 2023), the incidence of teenage motherhood in Egypt remains above the MENA average (World Bank, 2023[44]; World Bank, 2026[45]). Pregnancy in adolescence has a long-lasting negative effect on girls’ educational and economic outcomes: women who became mothers before the age of 20 usually report significantly fewer years of schooling and fewer hours spent in paid work activities than women with delayed childbearing (Arceo-Gomez and Campos-Vazquez, 2014[46]). Across the OECD, the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) shows a higher share of teenage motherhood among women with lower literacy scores: on average, 16.5% of women aged 25 to 65 in the lowest quintile of literacy proficiency became mothers in their teens, compared to 4.4% of women in the highest quintile (OECD, 2018[47]).
Young women in Egypt are more likely than young men to be neither learning nor earning
The girls who leave education early are largely not entering the labour market. The share of young women aged 15-24 who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET) stood at 36.3% in 2024 according to data from the ILO, below the MENA average of 43.7% but well above the 14.9% of boys and young men in the same age group (ILO, 2025[48]). A high NEET rate is concerning, as young people in this situation are more likely to experience social exclusion and poverty and to lack the skills needed to improve their economic situation. They are likely to be undertaking unpaid work within their family and community, and many might be involved in informal work. Engagement in unpaid care and domestic work in line with traditional gender roles is likely to have a strong impact on girls’ participation in education and later employment. Engagement in domestic and other types of work seems to have less of an impact on school attendance for boys (Assaad, Levison and Dang, 2010[49]).
High NEET rates for women in Egypt also reflect the difficult transition from education to work. Youth unemployment and under-employment rates are high, especially among women: 12.6% of 15-24 year-old men, and 49.2% of women, are unemployed (ILO, 2024[50]). Although youth unemployment has declined from 32.7% of 15-24 year-olds in 2017 to 19% in 2023, labour demand has not kept up with the growth of a young and increasingly educated population (see also Chapter 7) (ILO, 2024[50]).
High-quality technical education is one way to improve student performance and provide young people, and particularly young women, with the skills the labour market needs. Technical education provides a valuable practical alternative to the general high school qualification for students wishing to become professionals in skilled trades, applied sciences and technologies. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes in Egypt are popular among women, with women representing 53% of all TVET programme participants in 2019 (Assi and Marcati, 2020[51]). Within technical schools, girls are over-represented in commercial programmes (58% of students) but under-represented in agricultural programmes (14% of students) (Ministry of Education and Technical Education, 2021[52]).
Improvements in the supply of high-quality technical education and vocational training outside the formal school system could help unlock female talent in Egypt. For example, Neqdar Nesharek – a field intervention in rural Egypt – provided training to women aged 16-29 in business skills, vocational training, life skills, legal rights and civic education (Elsayed and Roushdy, 2017[53]). Labour market outcomes for vocational graduates remain mixed (Kemper and Renold, 2024[54]), although students prospects could be enhanced by improvements in quality and relevance and more opportunities for work-based learning (Musset, 2019[55]).
Egypt Vision 2030 places particular importance on improving the quality of technical education in Egypt. As part of the Technical Education 2.0 programme, the country is currently widening the range of vocational and technical education programmes offered, and aims to improve the quality of technical education (ETF, 2022[56]). The TVET Egypt initiative – supported by the European Union – also aims to improve the structure and performance of the TVET system and boost employability to strengthen Egypt’s economy (TVET EGYPT, 2024[57]).
Egypt has recently created a new type of publicly funded technological university which specialises in technological degrees and certificates. The Law Establishing Technological Universities No. 72 of 2019 has led to the creation of ten such institutions and there are plans for one in each governorate. These universities are supposed to collaborate closely with industry partners in developing, delivering and assessing study programmes. At least 60% of the education offered in these institutions is expected to consist of practical elements (SCU, 2023[58]). These technological universities might help to increase the relevance and quality of higher vocational education.
Egypt has made impressive strides towards improving girls’ educational outcomes and closing gender gaps in education over recent decades, with immense potential for boosting women’s economic opportunities. To close the remaining gaps, Egypt can focus on rural and disadvantaged households and tackling the root causes of early school leaving, and promote wider access to ECEC and technical education.
Recommendation 1: Provide targeted support to further promote participation in education among women and girls
Efforts to further expand participation in education among women and girls should focus on rural and disadvantaged areas and on preventing early drop-out among adolescent girls. To this end, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Provide tailored support for girls and young women living in rural and underprivileged areas and communities. Tailored support could include programmes such as flexible learning opportunities; financial incentives for participation in education, school meal programmes and free after-school care; and access to transport.
Policy consideration 2. Boost community-based literacy programmes, especially those aimed at teenage girls and women.
Policy consideration 3. Continue to collect high-quality gender-disaggregated data on education to monitor progress in closing gender gaps.
Recommendation 2: Promote high-quality early childhood education and care
Egypt should continue to encourage the enrolment of children in good quality pre-primary education to achieve large potential benefits for children’s development. To this end, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Ensure high-quality care by specifying minimum quality standards and educational requirements for staff, as well as providing staff with professional development opportunities.
Policy consideration 2. Support awareness campaigns on the benefits of participation in ECEC.
Recommendation 3: Raise awareness of the importance of girls’ education and the need to tackle early marriage
Adolescent girls are at high risk of dropping out of education prematurely due to household responsibilities and early marriage. To prevent this, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Support national campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of girls’ education and the hidden toll of unpaid care.
Policy consideration 2. Continue efforts to prevent girls’ early marriage and dropping out of school, and enforce the relevant laws on child marriage and school attendance. Provide support to teenage mothers to re-integrate into the education system through financial, psychological or childcare assistance.
Recommendation 4: Encourage women’s participation in STEM and technical education
Participation in STEM fields of study and technical education helps develop market relevant skills among both men and women. To build on Egypt’s already high share of women studying STEM by international standards, and to fully use the country’s talent pool, Egypt can:
Policy consideration 1. Create pathways to STEM professions for girls – through mentorship programmes, teacher training and other school-based interventions – and also by tackling barriers for women to building STEM careers (see Chapter 7). This will involve updating curricula and teacher training to actively counter gender bias, and investing in modern teaching techniques and tools that help girls learn, participate and flourish.
Policy consideration 2. Support tailored programmes to connect women graduates to real job opportunities, particularly in STEM and relevant fields. Support programmes that connect girls with female counsellors and role models working in STEM.
Policy consideration 3. Increase the quality and relevance of TVET to ensure it equips both girls and boys with in-demand skills and facilitates their transition from school to work.
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← 1. Upper Egypt refers to Egypt’s southern regions, including the governorates of Minya, Beni Suef, Faiyum, Asyut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, and the Red Sea governorate.
← 2. These data come from the OECD Social Institutions & Gender Index database, which is based on the World Marriage Data (2019) and UNICEF Child Marriage Data (2022).