The Economist - UK (2022-05-07)

46 MiddleEast&Africa TheEconomistMay7th 2022

andincreasesdrop­outrates.Pollingana­

lysed by unescofound that more than

40%oftheteenagersintheMiddleEast

andnorthAfricaarebulliedatleastoncea

month, compared with 32% in North

Americaand25%inEurope.Theregion’s

boysweremorelikelytobebulliedthan

girls,whereasgloballyboysandgirlsare

bulliedataboutthesamerate.Moreover,

thebullyingwasmuchmorelikelytoin­

volveviolence.Around60%ofboysalso

reportgettingintofightsatschool.

Manyboysseelittlepointinworking

hard,saysNatashaRidgeoftheAlQasimi

Foundation,anEmiratithink­tank.Hide­

boundeconomiesdonotrewardstrivers.

Intherichestcountriesyoungmencanex­

pecta shareofoilmoney,howeverbadly

theyflunk.Inotherplaces,boyswithpoor

scorescanstillhopeforjobsinbloatedciv­

il services:a quarterofjobsinEgyptarein

thepublicsector;inSaudiArabiain 2014

thesharewasovertwiceashigh. Forgirls

thebenefitsofswottingaremuchclearer.

Educationisoneofthefewwaystogainin­

dependencefromhusbandsandfathers.

Parentscontributetothisdisparity,too.

MuhammadinRasalKhaimahsaysheof­

tenstayedoutgallivantingwithfriendson

schoolnights,whilehissisters,keptin­

doorsbytheirparents,spentmoretime

studying.Arabparentsarelesslikelythan

thoseelsewheretosaythey“often”readto

theirchildren,andlesslikelytoreadwith

sonsthan withdaughters—even though

researchsuggeststhatboys’literacytends

to suffermore than girls’whenparents

don’tnudgethemtowardsbooks.

Intheorypreschoolscanhelpironout

thesedifferences.Butlessthana thirdof

childrenintheMiddleEastandnorthAfri­

cagotoone,whichisabouthalftheglobal

rate.Prejudicecomplicatesmatters.“Boys

aresmarterthangirls,buttheycan’tsettle

down,”saysAndjy,anEgyptianteacherand

motherinAlexandria.

Womenarestilllargelylockedoutof

workforces,despitehavingbetter school

grades.AcrosstheMiddleEastandnorth

Africaonlyarounda fifthofwomenhave

jobs.Poorlyeducatedmenareinnohurry

tochangethat.Researchoutsidetheregion

confirms that less­educated males are

morelikelytoholdsexistviews,andthat

men who do notcomplete a secondary

educationaremorelikelythanothersto

abusea wifeorpartner.

Reformsunderwayinsomecountries

coulddriveupstandardsandbenefitleft­

behind boys. More Arab countries are

choosingtotakepartinthebiginterna­

tionalteststhathavehelpedmakethere­

gion’swoefulschoolingsoplain.In 2019

Saudi Arabia’s government let women

teachboysinthefirstthreegradesofstate

primary schools, though in single­sex

classes.Today45%ofthoseboyshavefe­

maleteachers.In 2018 theuaebegancreat­

ing mixed­sex classes in state primary

schools.It isalsowellonitswaytomaking

pre­primaryeducationuniversal.

Yetveryfewcountrieshaveconjuredup

policies or projects, such as Hands­on­

Learning,thatexpresslyaimtohelpboys

closethegap.Moremustbedoneforgirls,

too,toensurethattheygotoschool:since

2012 progresstowardsequalenrolmenthas

stalled.Buttacklingtheboyproblemisun­

fashionable,saysMsRidge.Reform­mind­

edleadersintheArabworldprefertotalk

uptheirefforts,howevermeagre,toim­

prove the lotofwomen. They fear that

spendingmoreonladswillmakegovern­

mentslooklikedinosaurs—evenwhenthe

datashowthatboysareinsoreneed.n

Unlettered

Share of children below basic reading proficiency*

at end-of-primary age, 201 or latest available, %

Source:World Bank

*Adjusted by the proportion of children out of school

Israel

UAE

Qatar

Jordan

Morocco

Egypt

0 25 50 75

Saudi Arabia

Girls Boys

Egyptiantelevision

Victors’ version

W

hen television viewers  tuned  in

last  month  to  “Al­Ikhtiyar”  (“The

Choice”),  they  knew  exactly  how  it  would

end. In the penultimate episode Yasser Ga­

lal,  who  plays  Abdel­Fattah  al­Sisi,  then

the defence minister, enters a room full of

religious  and  political  leaders.  “We  must

make  a  fateful  decision,”  he  says.  “The

country needs one.” The date was July 3rd,

2013. Within hours the assembled grandees
would  appear  on  television  alongside  Mr
Sisi,  as  he  declared  Egypt’s  brief  experi­
ment with democracy to be over.
Television viewers in the Arab world are
spoilt for choice during the month of Ram­
adan, which ended on May 1st. Studios roll
out  dozens  of  big­budget  serials,  with  a
new episode each night. “Al­Ikhtiyar”, now
in  its  third  season,  was  one  of  this  year’s
most heavily promoted shows. 
The latest one dramatises what the pro­
ducers  call  “the  most  dangerous  96  hours
in  modern  Egyptian  history”:  the  mass

protestsandsubsequentcoupinthesum­

mer  of  2013  that  overthrew  Muhammad

Morsi,  the  Muslim  Brotherhood  apparat­

chik  who  had  become  the  first  and  only

man to win a fair election in Egypt. 

Mr  Galal  (pictured)  plays  his  role  with

uncanny precision, capturing the general’s

penchant  for  half­smiles  and  clasped

hands.  Close  your  eyes  and  his  whispery,

singsong voice is almost indistinguishable

from the real Mr Sisi, who has been presi­

dent  since  2014.  There  is  never  a  doubt

about  whom  viewers  should  root  for.  Mr

Sisi  is  portrayed  as  humble  and  pious;  en

route to announcing a coup, he stops for a

heartfelt  chat  with  his  mother.  Mr  Morsi

and his henchmen come off as shifty sorts,

their appearances set to ominous music.

The producers describe the show gran­

diosely, not just as entertainment but as a

“history book” for future generations. This

would  be  laudable—if  they  were  serious

about it. Even for those who lived through

them,  that  summer’s  events  were  a  blur.

What  seemed  as  if  it  could  be  a  one­day

protest against Mr Morsi, a chance for the

opposition  to  blow  off  steam,  progressed

with bewildering speed to a bloody coup.

The  show  purports  to  take  viewers  in­

side the inner sanctum of Egypt’s security

state.  The  credits  thank  the  army  and  the

interior ministry before the crew. It incor­

porates real­life recordings of Brotherhood

officials  that  must  have  been  taken  in  se­

cret and had never been aired before.

The  clips  paint  the  Brotherhood  as  ob­

stinate and inept, a truth many of Mr Mor­

si’s  one­time  supporters  concede.  But  the

show  sheds  little  new  light  on  how  the

deep  state  conspired  to  junk  democracy.

This is history written by the victors.

Gamal  Abdel  Nasser  and  Anwar  Sadat,

the second and third post­revolution pres­

idents,  both  had  their  careers  immortal­

ised  in  film.  But  their  appearances  came

D UBAI

A lavish drama tries to rally Egyptians

with memories of a dark moment

More telegenic than the president