The Diploma Disease in Egypt: learning, teaching and the monster of the secondary leaving certificate

Abstract Eygpt's education system is dominated by the secondary leaving certificate, the thanaawiya aama examination. From the earliest primary years, schooling is characterised by examination orientation and ritualisation. These features, in addition to Egypt's relatively late drive towards modernisation accompanied by centralisation and newly forged social divisions, clearly categorise Egypt as a victim of the ‘diploma disease’. Attempts to reform the assessment system are being hampered by the continuing perception of current school qualifications as the means to success, whether in the public or private sector, within Egypt or abroad.