The Power of Persistence: Education System ... - EQUIP123.net

increased during this period, particularly at the school level in relation to
project-supported activities, but also at the diara (district), muddiriya (state),
and national levels.
Political Dimensions
Egypt has experienced considerable continuity in leadership at both the national
and Ministry level, with one Minister of Education holding office for 13 years
and one president throughout that same period. In fact, there have only been
three presidents in Egypt since 1954, all of the same party. While such continuity
has resulted in a political stability that could, in theory, provide the conditions
for longer-term commitments and engagement, in practice the tenure of a small
group of leaders has limited the flow of new ideas and interventions that might
have arisen in response to personnel changes in a less static political environment.
Egypt’s political continuity coupled with engagement of USAID personnel over a
longer period provided an opportunity to develop strong working relationships.
Domestic politics were an important constraining factor for all decentralization
and community participation reforms throughout the 1990s. During the period
of study, central authorities referenced “national security” in explaining their
ambivalence to implementation of such reforms. In this same period, the ministry
reinforced its centralized power to limit local initiative, with a series of actions
that purged educators and replaced curricular materials that were supportive of
militants, and enacted the school uniform law. A significantly complicating factor
at various times was the relationship between community participation and the
influence of Islamist militant groups that could oppose the government. This
complicating issue often undermined support for community participation.
The political dynamic between the Ministry and powerful Governors was
positively affected by the reputation of pilot reforms in Alexandria, a highly
visible and powerful governorate. The support for reform was enhanced
by meetings of a governors’ education reform network and an aggressive
communications outreach by the Ministry, supported by the ERP project. In
2006, a number of supportive conditions fell into place. A key change was
the cabinet shakeup that named a new Minister of Education, Dr. Yousri El-
Gamal, who was previously a leading figure in the Alexandria reforms. At the
same time, the former Governor of Alexandria was named as the Ministry of
State for Local Development, and other reform-minded leaders assumed key
government positions, creating a network of support for substantive reform. The
knowledge and trust developed between the Minister of Education and the seven
governors participating in the decentralization pilots encouraged him to delegate
additional reform authority. At the same time, a former education official that
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SECTION 2: lESSONS fROM COUNTRY CASE STUdIES