Education Minister denies suggesting Egypt’s unpaid education system should be abolished
Education Minister Tarek Shawki blanketed the airwaves last night to dispel rumors that he had called for the abolishment of unpaid public education. According to the minister, he had told MPs during a closed-door meeting that the country’s education system is inherently flawed because it requires parents to spend large amounts of money on private lessons, which negates the benefits of providing schooling without charge. Shawki also stressed that his comments, which he said were taken out of context, were not meant to be on the record. He also phoned in to Masaa DMC and El Hekaya to say the same (watch, runtime: 9: 52) and (watch, runtime: 16:57).
Taxpayers have until the end of the day today to pay overdue taxes and be exempted from 90% of late fees, Tax Authority official Saeed Fouad told Al Hayah Al Youm. The authority is expecting to surpass the EGP 2 bn mark in tax collections today, according to Fouad (watch, runtime: 5:04). Taxpayers who miss today’s deadline will be required to pay a greater percentage of late fees, the authority’s Samy Al Awady told Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 6:24).
Cutting tariffs on European cars will not have a marked impact on automotive prices, head of the automotive division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce Omar Balbaa and former engineering industries division head Hamdy Abdel Aziz said on Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 14:14).
In other miscellany from last night’s talk shows: Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal had a chat with Deputy Agriculture Minister Mona Mehrez about the ministry’s plans to increase the country’s production of foodstuffs to meet local demand and turn to exports (watch, runtime: 22:42), while El Hekaya’s Amr Adib discussed the performance of the real estate sector with Memaar Al Morshedy founder Mohamed Al Morshedy (watch, runtime: 4:51). Adib also directed his attention to the country’s waste management plans (watch, runtime: 6:20).