Special Government Departmental Funds

Recently the Treasury Department sent a report to the Egyptian parliament regarding the special financial boxes. During the past few years, there has been so much talk in public about public officials misusing that fund. The money in such boxes is not part of the yearly government budget. The report sent to parliament estimated the money at 52 billion Egyptian pounds in 7,282 special boxes. The best and most effective policy for such funds is to close such boxes and allocate the 52 billion pounds to build badly needed schools all over Egypt.

According to the Ministry of Education, there are over 47,000 schools in Egypt, and many are unfit as a place for learning. Furthermore, he stated that Egypt needs to create more than 50,000 new classrooms to cut the number of students per classroom by half. He said that the number of students at present per classroom exceeds 140 students. Such a situation will lead to poor education and an increase in the illiteracy rates. There are hundreds of villages with no schools. I have seen some schools with no roofs, windows, or even chairs for students to sit on.

            No society will progress economically and socially without a progressive education system which should be available for every person. The situation of the educational system at the lower level reflects a disgrace for the society at large due to the meager government budget allocated to education.