INDICATORS OF THE CURRENT STATUS OF POPULATION REQUIREMENTS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN ASSIUT CITY

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Educational services in Egyptian cities are characterized by uneven level of service, where thedisparity in social, economic and cultural aspects of population has contributed to servicemultiplicity and diversity levels to meet the population requirements. This has led to the spread ofdifferent spontaneous types of Elementary Schools in residential neighborhoods within the city, andwithout any planned consideration of the geographical distribution to fulfill the needs ofneighbourhood populations. Specific types of Educational services are found in certainneighbourhoods, and not all. Using alternative types of transportation has encouraged the avoidanceto choose closest schools to housing, and to focus on the appropriate level of service. In light ofincreasing diversity of primary schools, significance of this study is to reveal the requirements ofpopulation by extrapolating the current status of those schools, which could contribute todeveloping planning criteria for the Egyptian city.The methodology adopted in this paper is based on the assessment of population requirements, andthe movement of pupils to Elementary Schools in Assiut City. Analysis of the current state ofresidential neighborhoods and the characteristics of available primary schools in each of them,besides the analysis of walking distances as an indicator of pupils movement to and from schoolshave been crucial to the adopted methodological approach. The research has used extrapolationmethods based on a small sample of population from different neighborhoods as an indicator ofpopulation opinion about available Elementary Schools in the corresponding housing communities,and the movement of their children to schools.The paper is aimed at arriving to specific criteria which can be used to optimize the movement ofpupils to and from Elementary Schools in residential neighborhoods in Assiut City. Socio-economiclevels for residential neighborhoods and the social structure of its population, has been taken intoaccount throughout the analysis. Pupils' movements to the different types of schools have beenmapped in field-work study and questionnaire design, thus allowing the consideration of both socialstructures and location of schools relative to neighborhoods to be taken as well.The paper is concluded by defining a set of standards and controls that could express the nature ofthe actual movement of pupils to and from schools. Those represent the indicators that can beutilized - as well - to evaluate the current status of Elementary Schools distribution in Assiut City.