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The saying goes is that the land that later became the United States is not the very same territories occupied by the Red Indians. The major difference there was the human resources that were injected into the new world with all the skilled laborers, scientists, thinkers and builders. That social capital was the major tool that built the new world sole superpower. Therefore, the quality of the social capital is the decisive factor in building civilizations and the well- established societies worldwide.
However, some economists believe that the size of the population or rather the social capital might be an obstacle in the development process of a given society. However, others argue that the population of some poor countries is certainly less that the population of one of the US major states.
But arguing against the population size as a major factor that decides the quality and the standards of living of the social capital will lead in most cases to unrealistic assumptions. The population in Switzerland, for instance, is almost eight million and the national revenue is $226 billion while the GDP is almost $35,000. Compare that with the state in India which has a population of more than a billion persons with a staggering GDP of $2563 despite of a national revenue of $2965.
In Egypt, the tiny population which had not exceeded 30 million until mid last century played an important role in presenting a cultural and civilized phenomenon in the Arab world that started in the nineteenth century. But, the very same social capital that was doubled by the end of the past century played a negative role in the developmental process of Egypt.
According to several reports, Egypt at the beginning of the past century which had a population of 16-to-20 million people, managed to take big developmental strides despite of a ten million unemployed persons.
Yet, there are several other factors that decide the quality of the social capital such as the highly specialized education and scientific institutions that meet the market demand. Teaching foreign languages and fine arts were also a major source of enlightenment in Egypt as early as the past. We should also give credit to the cinema industry in Egypt which was well-established at the time and gave a boost to the already popular musicians, singers who were the fine products of the first Oriental Music Institute.
There are several steps that should be taken to activate and develop the social capital and major among them, according to Dr Ismaeel Serag eldin, head of Alexandria Bibliotheca, are:
1- Men should be considered as the major element of the social capital and the target of development.
2- The role of major sectors should clearly be defined according to the national's priorities and on the basis of integration.
3- Modernizing education with a special focus on creativity and building skills among the expected leadership.
Since the beginning of the past century, Egypt managed to expand its educational institutions both in quality and quantity. Education was for free and mandatory as stated by the constitution.
Women's rights were highly respected and calls for equality were part of the culture.
Foreign languages, especially English language, were mandatory at schools due to the presence of the British occupation. Scholarships to France, Italy and Britain were organized on regular basis which made Egypt at the time the first Arab state to send scholars to Europe.
The role of the Egyptian elite who were also the university graduates of internationally recognized universities could hardly be denied. They came back with new views and ideas and led the renaissance of that country.
Surprisingly, at that time, Egypt has less than ten thousand religious schools and institutes and most of their students were from Arab countries. But, by the second half of the twentieth century, the number of religious schools was more than doubled and the Egyptian students formed more than 50 percent of the total number which marks the dominance of religious education through the connection established between the country's Muslim brotherhood and their counterparts in the Gulf States.
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* Jordanian Intellectual
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