Egypt’s Ministry of Education has decided to increase private and international school bus fees from 25% last year to 45% starting next September.
The ministry sent an official publication to all educational directories with new increases, which varied from 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, and 25%.
The fees were EGP 1,000 and less than EGP 2,000 to be raised by 45%. Those at EGP 2,000 are to be increased to EGP 3,000. The fees at EGP 4,000 are to be raised to EGP 6,000, while the bus fees up to EGP 6,000 will be increased by 25%.
The ministry asserted that bus services of private and international schools are “optional” to parents, noting that it set out the new increases to prevent these schools from establishing their own fees.
It further noted that it took such a decision to “protect parents’ financial rights.”
The new increases came two months after the government announced raising fuel prices by up to 50% for the third time since floating the pound in November 2016, as part of its recent economic austerity measures tied to the three-year $12bn International Monetary Fund loan programme.
