A classroom full of male Al-Azhar students wearing the distinctive grey uniform and traditional red-and-white Azhari cap (Taqiyya) sit facing a teacher writing on a blackboard in Qena, Upper Egypt. Al-Azhar schools are part of Egypt's oldest Islamic educational institution, founded in Cairo in 970 AD, with branches across the country including Upper Egypt governorates. Students in these schools receive a combined curriculum of Islamic studies and standard national education subjects.