Egypt's military appears unhappy with the results of its efforts to find more educated recruits, according to a recent study.
The study, published by the Middle East Review of International Affairs, was quoted by the Middle East Newslink (MENL) as saying that the Egyptian military had been largely unsuccessful in raising the education level of its soldiers.
The report says that despite considerable efforts, the military has failed to recruit educated Egyptians.
In 1996, the military launched a campaign to recruit among Egypt's large expatriate community. The effort was an acknowledgement that Egypt's huge pool of high school students was not sufficiently educated for the military, the report said.
Egypt, with more than 250,000 high school graduates each year, drafts 80,000 recruits. Of this, about half graduated from universities, which also serve as a pool for officer recruitment.
"While the armed forces is an avenue for upward mobility in Egypt, the type of people who use this route are usually less well-educated and more rural in origin," the report, authored by researcher Hillel Frisch, claims.
Nevertheless, Egypt is determined to upgrade it military by introducing state-of-the-art technologies, according to reports.
Egypt's defense chief has pledged that the army will keep pace with changing technology and combat doctrine in the West.
Egyptian Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi last month said that that the military remained abreast of changes in technology, combat doctrine and weapons development.
Tantawi pledged to keep Egypt's armed forces on the cutting edge of strategic developments. He issued the pledge during a graduation ceremony of military cadets from 10 countries over the weekend.
The cadets came from Arab countries as well as Pakistan. The Arab countries included Algeria, Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The defense minister did not elaborate. But he said Egypt's efforts included upgrades of weapons, development of new systems and changes in military doctrine - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
