9. In accordance with Egypt's commitment under Article 17 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, articles 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution affirm that every citizen has the right to education with the aim of building the Egyptian character, maintaining national identity, nurturing the roots of scientific thinking, developing talent, promoting innovation and strengthening cultural and spiritual values and the concepts of citizenship, tolerance and nondiscrimination. The state is committed to upholding the excellence of education curricula and methods, and to providing education in accordance with global quality criteria. Education is obligatory until the end of the secondary stage or its equivalent. The state grants free education at different stages in state educational institutions in accordance with the law. The state commits to allocating a percentage of government spending of no less than four percent of the GDP for education. This will gradually increase this until it reaches global rates. The state is also committed to encouraging and developing technical education and professional training and expanding all types thereof in accordance with global quality criteria, and in keeping with the needs of the labor market. The state also guarantees the independence of universities, and of scientific and linguistic educational institutions, and is committed to providing university education in accordance with global quality criteria, and to developing free university education in state universities and institutes in accordance with the law. The state allocates a percentage of the government expenditure that is no less than two percent of Gross National Product (GNP), which will gradually increase until it reaches global rates. Demonstrating the government's keenness to ensure access to all levels of education for women and girls, the state prioritizes the provision of equal opportunities for the education of boys and girls. The proportion of girls in basic education has reached 48.5%, with the expansion of girls' schools and community education schools to combat the phenomenon of early academic drop-out rates. In order to encourage outstanding students and provide more non-stereotypical educational opportunities, nine outstanding schools have been established since 2014, increasing the number of outstanding schools from just two previously to 11 at present. Around 18 centers of excellence have been established for gifted learners in 10 governorates throughout 2016 and 54