“Educational directorates have been instructed to close all unlicensed private tutoring centres,” announced Ahmed Saber, media spokesperson for the Ministry of Education. The campaign is being carried out by the Education Ministry in coordination with the Interior Ministry, the Tax Authority and the Ministry of Local Development. Teachers working in the centres will be referred to disciplinary panels and, should they not be registered with the Education Ministry, to the prosecution-general on charges of impersonating teachers. “The alternative to private tutoring centres will be within schools, where students will choose the teacher they want to instruct them,” said Saber. Medhat Mosaad, a former undersecretary at the Ministry of Education, believes it will take more than a campaign to end private lessons. “The current campaign against these unlicensed centres is useful,” Mosaad told Al-Ahram Weekly. “But the chances are when one centre closes another will open. We need to tackle the problem from its roots.” “This means moving away from existing evaluation processes which are based on memorising rather than understanding. When the new educational system is being applied across all age groups then private lessons will be redundant.” The Ministry of Education announced a radical overhaul of education, beginning in academic year 2018/2019, but it is being rolled out gradually. The first phase applies only to kindergarten and first grade students. The new system, which ministry officials say is based on active learning rather than indoctrination, is expected to be fully in place by 2030. Minister of Education Tarek Shawki told MPs this week his ministry is developing an integrated solution to the problem of private tuition. According to Shawki, Egyptians spend LE200 billion on education annually, much of it on private schools and tutoring. He said students in the new educational system will not require private tutoring and urged parents not to pay for additional private lessons. A draft education law, currently being discussed by parliament, will criminalise private tutoring, says Mosaad. It will also increase the budget of the Education Ministry, allowing teachers to be paid more, reducing the temptation for them to offer private lessons. The draft law includes the imposition of financial sanctions and the closure of tuition centres and allows for the detention of teachers giving private lessons. “The penalties will be very severe. No teacher will be allowed to give private lessons without prior permission,” says Mosaad. Many students and parents have complained about the timing of the campaign to close tutoring centres, saying it should not have been launched in the middle of the academic year when many students already depend on private tutoring. “What will we do when they close the centres,” asked Thanaweya Amma student Yasmine. “We will probably fail. They should have started the campaign in the mid-year vacation.” “At school there are more than 60 students in a class and it is often impossible to hear what the teacher is saying. This is why we depend on private lessons,” Ahmed Sami, another Thanaweya Amma student, told the Weekly. Mosaad says the timing of the campaign was unavoidable since during holiday periods the centres only offer language and computer courses. Ministry of Education statistics reveal there are more than 2,000 private tutoring centres operating in Egypt and that between 61 and 77 per cent of school students receive private tutoring. Nader, a school student who depends on tutoring centres, argues the numbers of students in classes need to be substantially reduced before the centres are closed. Mohamed Gamal, another school student, complains there are more than 70 in his class and the majority take private lessons because it is difficult to absorb any information in such a crowded environment. The education minister insists classes more than 100 students are rare and the ministry is working towards limiting class sizes to a maximum of 70 students.
