CAIRO - The holy Muslim month of Ramadan, Eid el-Fitr (Lesser Bairam - the three-day feast that follows the fasting month) and the new school year will all begin in late August and early September amid signs that Egyptian pockets will be even emptier than usual. Ramadan started on August 1. It is an occasion when the Muslims eat their main meal (iftar) after sunset. It is the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar and starts 11 days earlier each year. The new school year, despite the objections of Egyptian parents, begins on September 17, and the Egyptians will celebrate the Lesser Bairam, by the end of this month. The three occasions are an 'orgy' of additional financial burdens that the majority of Egyptian households cannot afford. "No average family can cope with the demands of Ramadan, the feast and the new school year at the same time," says Sabah Mahmoud, a mother-of-four from Cairo. "These three occasions require that parents buy extra food, new uniforms and school necessities for their children, and also new clothes for them for the feast. All these things have become very expensive," she adds. This year, retailers are reporting that sales of school necessities are sharply down. "For every five people buying school uniforms, shoes and satchels, there are only two this year," Ibrahim Fadel, the owner of a clothes shop in the popular Cairo area of el-Abbassia, told The Gazette. "Egyptian parents wanted the Minister of Education to postpone the start of the school year until after September so that they might be able to buy new uniforms to make their children happy," mother-of-three Omaima Abdel Qader complains. "Now, my husband and I am in a dilemma because we do not know what to buy first: food for Ramadan, school uniforms or the new clothes for the feast," Omaiyma, an accountant in a governmental department, says. "The prices always go up in Ramadan." This year, the prices of school uniforms and stationery have shot up too. “A school T-shirt for a six-year-old, which will only be worn only until the end September, when the children switch to the winter uniform, costs LE95 [$17],” says mother-of-two Faida Rafiq. “Add to that the cost of two pairs of shoes, trousers, track suits, bags and stationery,” Fadia adds, complaining that the Government has failed to clamp down on the alarming price hikes in the run-up to the school year, which begins twenty days after the start of Ramadan. Although yameesh (a delicious Ramadan treat consisting of a mixture of nuts and dried fruits) filled the shop windows, sales have been apparently down due to the high prices. "Our household budget has been hit by a series of price hikes that have exceeded 100 per cent since last Jan," Maha Tameem, another housewife, says, adding that she cannot afford yameesh for her children this year, just dried dates. "This year, Ramadan treats cost over 30 per cent more than last year," Ahmed Yasser, a shop owner explains, adding that this means that many Egyptian consumers are far less lavish than usual. "The price hikes threaten to prevent us from enjoying Ramadan," complains Hajj Ibrahim, a retired employee and a grandfather.
