Crackdown on tuitions sparks outcry
Parents in Egypt demand good schooling before banning of private lessons
Parents in Egypt demand good schooling before ban on private lessons |
For years, walls of buildings in Egypt have been covered with posters touting private tuition centres. Promotional signs audaciously read: ‘Shakespeare of the English language’, ‘Pythagoras of mathematics’, and ‘Einstein of physics’.
Not anymore! Education authorities this month started a nationwide crackdown on private tuition providers, which cost parents about 25 billion Egyptian pounds (Dh5.2 billion) annually, according to official figures.
Authorities have so far shut down dozens of private tuition centres, accusing them of operating illegally and drawing students away from schools.
In a country where government austerity measures have put pressure on most households’ budgets, it is surprising that the vociferous opposition to the clampdown on private tuition outlets comes mainly from parents.
“Private lessons are the result of bad education at school,” said Mahmoud Mohram, a father of three schoolchildren.
“The roots of the problem are crammed schools, complicated curricula, inefficient teachers and an educational system based on rote learning and exams. Change all of this and private lessons will stop to exist,” he added.
Mohram, who works at a travel agency in Cairo, said outsideschool tuition costs him about 1,600 pounds per month.
“As parents, we are not happy with spending our money on private lessons amid our economic problems, but we have no option. First, the [education] ministry should fix its schools before it closes private lesson centres,” he said.
Around 700,000 new pupils are admitted annually into schools in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country with about 100 million people.
Education Minister Tarek Shawqi has repeatedly promised to reform education. His plan has provoked controversy in the media and drawn rare street protests from parents. The minister has accused interest groups of trying to hamper his drive.
“All private lesson centres will be closed in two months. There is no going back on this,” an educational official told Gulf News. “These centres have subverted the education process. This must end.”
The plan has drawn angry criticism from parents online.
“This is not a remedy to the actual disease,” said a woman, named Asmaa Saeed, in a Facebook post. “We need efficient and conscientious schoolteachers. So that our children will not [have to] resort to private lessons.” ■
“Everyone backs the closure of private tuition centres, but the question is: When?” said Khalid Safwat, the founder of an online parent group. “This would be possible when we have a schoolteacher who explains lessons well inside the classroom; curricula that promote creativity and a system that does not overemphasise exams. So far, this is not the case on the ground.”