Administrative Reform and the Egyptian Ministry of Education

The difference between developed and less developed countries resides to a great extent in the effectiveness of their administrative systems. The objective of this study is to identify and analyse the organisational constraints acting upon and within the Egyptian Ministry of Education that deter its capacity for administrative reform. Critical management processes are examined, such as policy formation, promotion procedures, planning, resource distribution, and local level decision making. Field visits to several regional school systems, as well as interviews with most of the senior ministry officials, were carried out by a team of American and Egyptian researchers. The research is significant because it provides a close examination of a system closed to most Western researchers. The administrative structure of the Ministry will be of interest to scholars because, even though it is highly bureaucratic, it operates with relative efficiency. However, what it cannot do with any degree of effectiveness is change the educational system from its long‐established patterns.