Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned Egypt’s government for undermining the right to education in recent years, citing inadequate funding for public schools and a failure to meet constitutional and international education standards. According to HRW, the reduction in Egypt’s education budget has resulted in overcrowded classrooms, insufficiently trained teachers, and poor-quality education, impacting millions of children.
The Egyptian government allocated a 2024/25 education budget of 295 billion Egyptian pounds (roughly $6 billion), a mere 1.7% of the nation’s GDP, significantly below both constitutional mandates and global education benchmarks. This allocation, amounting to just 5.3% of the national budget, falls far short of the 6% of GDP mandated by Egypt’s 2014 constitution and the World Bank’s recommended range of 4 to 6% of GDP for education.
While nominally increased, education spending in Egypt has declined in real terms, falling from 2.3% of GDP in 2020/2021 to the current low of 1.7%. HRW also found that Egypt’s real spending on education has dropped by 24% since 2014, adjusted for inflation.
The consequences are evident in the country’s education outcomes. Egypt faces alarmingly high illiteracy rates, with over a quarter of adults unable to read or write, and 16% of people aged 10 and older lacking basic literacy skills. A 2019 World Bank report revealed that nearly 70% of Egyptian students were in “learning poverty,” unable to read and understand an age-appropriate text by age 10.
Classroom shortages further exacerbate the crisis. The Ministry of Education reported a deficit of 250,000 classrooms, leading to overcrowded schools, with some classes containing up to 200 students. Many schools lack basic infrastructure, such as chairs and desks. In response, the government has proposed capping class sizes at 50 students in most schools by redistributing students and adding evening shifts.
In addition to overcrowded schools, Egypt faces a severe teacher shortage, with nearly 470,000 unfilled positions. In 2022, the government held a competition to hire 30,000 assistant teachers on temporary contracts, offering low wages and subjecting applicants to military-run physical exams. Many were disqualified for arbitrary reasons, leading to protests and arrests.
Despite mounting criticism, the Egyptian government has blamed overpopulation for the country’s education woes. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has publicly acknowledged the government’s failure to meet constitutional education targets but has dismissed criticism, attributing the budget shortfalls to limited resources and prioritizing other sectors like security and military needs.
HRW urges the Egyptian government to meet its constitutional and international obligations to provide free and quality education to all children. The country’s education system is burdened by inadequate funding, which forces many families to pay for private tutoring, despite the government’s legal responsibility to provide free primary and secondary education.
“The government’s policies over the past decade have led to a dramatic decline in funding for public education, to the detriment of millions of children and families across Egypt,” said Bassam Khawaja, HRW’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director. HRW’s report underscores the urgent need for Egypt to allocate more resources to education in order to improve the quality and accessibility of schooling across the country.
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