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Thursday, 23 September 2021

Last Night’s Talk Shows on school volunteers, the teacher shortage, and Aboul Gheit on GERD

It was a quiet night on the airwaves: Speaking to Yahduth Fi Masr (watch, runtime: 5:36), MP Sanaa Al-Saeed called on the Education Ministry to reconcile the status of 36k teachers who were hired before having their contracts terminated, rather than opening the door to volunteers. Schools around the country are currently facing a shortage of teachers, leading to the Education Ministry calling on people to volunteer as teaching assistants when the new public school year begins next month. Education Minister Tarek Shawki told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib earlier this week that there is currently a 250k shortfall in teachers and that the ministry would pay volunteers EGP 20 a class to fill the gap (watch, runtime: 4:15). The education and finance ministers said yesterday that the statuses of the 36k teachers is under discussion and will be resolved shortly, according to Al-Saeed.

What’s with the huge teacher shortage? Shawki said that budget limitations mean that the government does not have the capacity to hire new teachers.

Where did this come from? Readers will recall that austerity measures implemented last year by the Madbouly cabinet included a freeze on hires at any government body — including replacements for folks who quit or retire. Replacements are only hired now after a governorate flags a shortage of teachers and gets one-off approval from the Education Ministry to hire replacements or new positions.

Also on the airwaves last night: Developments in the ‘Decent Life’ initiative, which were followed up on in a cabinet meeting: Yahduth Fi Masr (watch, runtime: 5:49) and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 1:12).

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