The Ministry of Education will downsize its budget for printing school books this year, according to a senior ministry source. A number of syllabus and activity books were merged in order to reduce the printing cost from LE1.32 billion to LE950 million. The ministry discontinued technical, agricultural, and computer textbooks, believing them to be of little use to students. Meanwhile, staff at the ministry's books and printing houses in 6th of October City ended their strike yesterday. The employees were protesting a decision by the Minister of Education, Ahmed Zaki Badr, to withhold bonuses he had promised them as a reward for their efforts during exams. Their colleagues at the el-Sayyida Zeinab branch continued their strike, however, staging a sit-in in front of the ministry's headquarters. Al-Masry Al-Youm has learned that Badr planned to disburse the bonus, but at a rate lower than what was originally promised. Employees now expect to receive an amount equal to between 80 to 150 days of their salary; originally they expected an amount equal to 200 to 250 days. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
