CAIRO -

It seems that the crises faced by the Egyptian Ministry of Education since the beginning of the school year will not end quickly. After the crises of students sleeping on the ground, the large density of classrooms, and the lack of classrooms and teachers, the ministry is facing a parliamentary attack because of linking the delivery of textbooks to students to the payment of fees to their parents.

The ministry is also facing criticism for its inability to appoint teachers who can take responsibility, and to be satisfied with volunteers and temporary teachers who work piecemeal for meager salaries.

An insult to the teacher and a crime against students

The educational expert, Rifaat Fayyad, attacked the policy of the Ministry of Education in appointing volunteer teachers or for 20 pounds per share, stressing that it is an insult to the teacher and a crime against the students.

Fayyad warned, during a telephone interview with Al-Hadath Al-Youm channel, on Wednesday evening, that while this ministry announces the fight against private lessons, its policies push people to pay for these lessons, in the absence of a qualified teacher from schools.

The educational expert explained that the teachers appointed by the Ministry of Education for 20 pounds per class encourage students to take private lessons to compensate for the meager salary.

Fayyad confirmed that the ministry's policy, which stopped the appointment of teachers many years ago, made the teaching staff enter the "old age" stage.

The educational expert stressed that the correct and real education reform will not happen until the student and teacher return to school again, after the two parties abandoned it because of private lessons, noting that families spend nearly 50 billion pounds on private lessons.

Parliamentary attack

On the other hand, a member of the House of Representatives, Sayed Samir, submitted a request for a briefing to the Speaker of the House, on Wednesday, directed to the Minister of Education, regarding preventing the delivery of textbooks to students who did not pay the fees.

Samir said that the minister, with that decision, violated the human conscience in light of circumstances compelling humanity as a whole and the Egyptian citizen in particular, which are the conditions of the Corona pandemic, which cast a shadow on the entry of countries and the global economic movement.

In his statement, the MP stated that the Minister of Education's decision to prevent the delivery of textbooks to students whose parents did not pay school fees is a clear violation of the Constitution, which stipulates in Article 53 of the non-discrimination for any reason, including non-discrimination on the basis of social level.

He also stated that the decision violates Article 19 of the Constitution, which stipulates that education is a right for every citizen, and the state guarantees free education in its various stages in state educational institutions, in accordance with the law.

What is the legal document?

Samir called on the Minister of Education to clarify the legal basis on which he relied to take that "unfair" decision, asking: Is there a law or regulation that authorizes him to violate the constitution?

He stressed that the minister's decision to prevent the delivery of books is the height of unfairness to an old system that made its children who are recipients of knowledge sleep on the ground and carry tablets, in a paradox that reflects a lack of vision and planning on all axes and not a single axis.

The briefing request submitted by the representative is not the first, as it was preceded by similar requests submitted by a number of deputies, including Hala Abu Al-Saad, who said that obtaining the papers required for exemption from premiums, for some groups, such as the children of martyrs, takes a long time in government procedures, during which the student is deprived of the textbook .

Abu Al-Saad added that the post offices designated to pay the premiums are witnessing an unprecedented state of overcrowding in various governorates, with the desire of parents who are able to pay the premiums to speed up the procedures for receiving their children’s textbooks, despite the warnings about the country facing a fourth wave of the outbreak of the Corona pandemic.

Representative Ahmed Muhanna also said, in a request for a briefing, that the minister’s decision caused great confusion among families, most of which include more than one child in different stages of education, and find it difficult to manage all the sums of money at once, whether for students in regular or official government schools ( languages).

half the expenses

The Minister of Education, Tariq Shawky, had issued a decision - with the start of the school year - to ban the delivery of school books without paying the expenses, which sparked a storm of criticism, and a severe attack on the ministry.

Under the heavy attack, the ministry partially retracted its decision, and the minister issued a periodical that stipulated that students were entitled to receive books for the first semester after paying half of the prescribed fees.

Local media also reported that some governors refused to implement the minister’s decision to link the delivery of books to the payment of expenses, including the governors of Marsa Matrouh and South Sinai.

#The Ministry of Education decides to reduce the obligation to pay the expenses to half the value of the fees for delivering books to students, to ease the burden on parents pic.twitter.com/0mtI8NivnX

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) October 17, 2021

The Minister of Education: Handing over books to those who paid half of the school fees…..


despite the unconstitutionality of linking the delivery of books to expenses.. But His Excellency Minister Mohsini, he is a sales agent for parents!

- Ehab El-Zalaky (@zelaky) October 15, 2021

And if I am against the decision to link the delivery of books to paying the expenses for violating the constitution and embarrassing the children, the decision to pay school fees for Termin is better than not,


and a decision was issued to deliver the books for the first term in exchange for paying half of the expenses # Front_Shaab_Egypt

— Muhammad Hussain (@Mhmd8mohmed) October 17, 2021