Is it time to criminalize private lessons for school students?

CAIRO – 1 September 2018: Mohamed Hani Abaza, deputy head of the Parliament's Education Committee, said that he rejects giving private lessons to school students. However, it is not the right time to criminalize such phenomenon.

The Ministry of Education has exerted significant efforts over several decades to ban private tutoring for school students, as private lessons have become a major burden to families’ household incomes. However, no legislation in the country prohibits private lessons in general.

In an interview with Ahmed Moussa on Sada al-Balad, Abaza said schools and a large number of school teachers are still unqualified to educate students in a right manner. He added that the current curricula are “overstuffed,” that students are not able to remember them after finishing their school year.

The Parliament member revealed that a large number of schools do not have classes for high school students, asserting that the headmasters and education directorates know that such violation is taking place.

Mohamed Omar, deputy minister of education for teachers' affairs, said earlier in October that a draft law criminalizing private lessons will be submitted to the Cabinet within two weeks.

The Education Ministry has launched this month a campaign to close down a number of private tutoring centers for school students in Heliopolis and Nozha districts.


In an interview with Egypt Today, Mostafa Khaled, 24, a former Thanaweya Amma (Egypt’s high school) student, said he opposes criminalizing such lessons, as they are optional, adding that students cannot currently find another alternative.

He said that the bill to criminalize private lessons reflects the government’s negligence of the real problem, as the Education Ministry needs to fix problems concerning the unavailability of classes and teachers for high school students inside private schools. “As if the country is tipped into famine, so you kill people to resolve it; this is not the solution,” he stated.

Ahmed Taymour, the deputy Cairo Governor, said that private tutoring centers are unlicensed, adding that the penalty for establishing unlicensed facilities is a fine ranging from LE10,000 ($558) to LE20,000 ($111,7), and a six-month prison sentence.

Parents and children have turned to private lessons outside school premises, which prepare students to the Thanaweya Amma final exams.

Average fees per student can amount to around LE 30,000 (about $1,677) over the Thanaweya Amma year, the final year of schooling which spans over the course of 10 months. The Thanaweya Amma private lessons may consume up to 33 hours a week.
Private tutoring remains common despite the government’s efforts to limit it.