80 CultureShock! Egypt
to help with family economic endeavours. Among farming
families, boys assist their fathers in farming activities while
girls assist their mothers with household responsibilities.
Other children work in trades, such as carpet weaving, to
provide both a future trade occupation and supplementary
family income. It seems that no matter where you are
in Egypt, regardless of time of day or year, children herd
animals, perform household or farm duties, or work in and
around the various tourist shops.
Primary education is compulsory in Egypt and is a high
government priority, yet many of the poorest children still
do not attend school regularly because they are needed to
help with family income.
Sometimes only selected children get educated. Among
farming families, parents often send only the oldest male
children to school on a fairly regular basis. They believe
these children must be somewhat educated in order to
be able to get manual and other unskilled jobs in the
urban areas.
Poor farming families educate only some of the children
because of their values and expectations. Young girls are
not perceived to need an education because it is most
commonly assumed they will marry and bear household
responsibilities typical of women in their villages. Therefore,
they need to learn the skills that will help them with their
anticipated familial and household responsibilities. For boys,
it is different. Farm land can only be divided so many times
and still support the needs of families. This means that all of
a family’s male children cannot be provided land for farming
after they marry. Logically, then, some of the male children
must acquire some other means of supporting their future
families. For example, if farm land is only sufficient for one
child to inherit, often the youngest male is selected to continue
the family farming tradition and assume responsibility for
the parents in their old age. Thus, this child is the least likely
to be perceived to need an education. Of course, if there is
sufficient land, families may perceive less need to educate
children since they will be expected to continue the family
farming tradition.