Education in Egypt

Education System

Every country has its own systems and when you think of moving one of your major concerns would be your child’s education. Where do you start? What is the best for your child? How will they learn in a new system? How does it suit their educational needs.... The different systems..... The adapting to change.... so many questions and we are now so grateful for this worldly information at our fingertips...

Here i'm going to briefly discuss Primary and Secondary education. 

First of all you have the Egyptian Government schools, all of the curriculum is in Arabic and you have some basic lessons in English. Not suitable for an immigrant in my opinion as they are they are generally quite rough schools and you have to be a streetwise Egyptian to be able to handle them. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong......

Then you have the so called Language schools, most common are English although there is the French and German, who claim they are language schools but have very little grasp of the language they claim to teach.  Their textbooks would have many mistakes and the teachers would make grammatical errors.... but you could pay in the region of 5,000 – 8,000 LE per child per year. Again if you think I am wrong .... let me know.

Then you have the actual Language schools and there are some very good language schools. This category is highly recommended as there are so many good options to choose from. Majority go down the American route there are British systems but you would find they are more expensive. These types of schools normally offer 2 routes the National option and the International option obviously the latter being more expensive. The price range here is quite wide and it really does depend on what the school has to offer, it could be anything from 8,000LE to 20,000LE. You will have to ask each school in detail of which subjects are in English and which are in Arabic as most Social subjects such as Geography, History and Art will be taken in Arabic.

Lastly you have the International schools which are very much the crème de la crème. They would be officially accredited and the British schools would have actual British qualified staff. Each class would also have no less than 1 core teacher and an assistant. The price you pay for this would be around the 30,000LE mark to 60,000LE depending on the academic year of the child and the school itself.

You also have the Asharian schools, which are the Islamic schools. They tend to be very good with the teaching of Quran and Arabic studies but you have to get your child in at a young age as they normally would have a recitation criteria for each academic stage, if your child does not know up to the level required you probably won’t get in.

It is highly recommended to visit as many schools as you possibly can before you make any decisions on where to place your child. You will find that most of the schools would be very accommodating and would welcome you into their school. They will ask you to fill in a form but be careful as soon as you do you have to pay a registration fee.... so just look at first....

It is currently enrolment time for all schools and they will pressure you a bit to enrol now or you won’t have a place for September but to be honest unless it is one of the schools with a Hugh waiting list ... you should be ok...

You will have to prove that your child has passed the last academic year so you will need some form of proof from the previous school they attended. Each school would have their own criteria ... so don’t assume... you have to ask.

Children In Egypt can be put under a fair bit of pressure as they have a lot of exams ... mocks, mid terms, finals.... at all stages from Primary 1. Unlike the British kids who sail through the years.... I suppose it has its advantages and disadvantages like anything.

The whole education system is very different from the school buildings to the attitudes of the staff and children. It can take some getting used to but I suppose the most important thing here is to make sure you assume nothing and ask everything...., what you may think is standard you may find is non – existent such as Internet connection and material provided.

Generally, You really have to do your research and sometimes other parents experiences can be a great starting point but some advice make up your own mind as what works for one person may not work for another....

If you feel that anything I have said here is wrong please let me know and if on the other hand you would like to know anything else that you feel I may be able to help you with... please don’t hesitate to ask.....