For decades, Egypt’s K-12 system has been defined by three challenges: a chronic shortage of teachers, outdated infrastructure, and a curriculum that fails to prepare graduates for the private sector. The government’s 2030 strategy, detailed in the recently released second edition of the National Narrative for Comprehensive Development (pdf), suggests the state has finally realized it cannot solve these problems alone. The plan signals a shift toward aggressive private-sector integration and a pivot toward technical education.

Why this matters: The government wants to increase the private sector’s share of the education market to 20% by 2030. For operators in the education space, this means a likely easing of licensing bottlenecks for nurseries and schools. For those in industry, it signals a sizable influx of technical education graduates to fill gaps in the labor market.

There’s no easy fix teacher shortages

The government is also committed to reducing class density to 30 students per class, down from 40 students last fiscal year, focusing on high-density governorates such as Giza, Assiut, Minya, Sohag, Fayoum, Qena, Cairo, Beni Suef, and Qalyubia. This will be supported by bringing down the student-to-teacher ratio to 20:1 by the end of the decade, down from 29:1 last fiscal year.

To fill the gap, the government is planning to go on a hiring spree, with funding set aside to hire 167k contract teachers and targeting graduates from faculties of education. Reducing the strain on teacher numbers is being done by reducing the number of lesson slots for core subjects from 12 to 8.

But meeting 2030 education targets is going to be hard considering that Egypt lost 127k teachers between 2018 and 2023. The narrative acknowledges this, but proposes solutions that look more like stop-gaps than long-term fixes, including by raising the per-lesson rate for contract teachers from 20 EGP to 50 EGP.

Even with newer and more classrooms, the fact remains that we need teachers to man them. Overcrowded classrooms risk what those in education call learning poverty — where children are in school, but not learning — which not only doesn’t give the children the education that they deserve as a right in and of itself, but harms the quality of entry-level labor that the country and the companies operating here need.

Bigger, better, and more schools

Work is underway to build 13-15k new classrooms annually, following the construction of 150k classrooms over the past decade. This is in addition to existing mechanisms, including the introduction of rotating classes, increasing the school week to 6 days.

There are targets to increase the availability of classes in distinguished and competitive education to 10% by 2030, up from 7% last fiscal year, by building more Japanese, STEM, Nile, iInternational public, and other types of schools.

The state also eyes an expanded role of the private sector, with a target for the private sector to account for 15% of all students by 2030, up from roughly 12.7% today. While a 2.3% jump sounds modest, in a country of 25 mn+ students, that represents a massive transfer of capital and responsibility.

The early education sector has a private sector-sized hole that needs to be filled

The most significant signal for the business community is the state’s admission of a gap that needs to be filled. The narrative points to a 32% deficit in early childhood centers recorded in FY 2022-23, which it proposes fixing with facilitated licensing for private nurseries and allowing private schools to operate early-childhood classrooms, in addition to a new kindergarten curricula and efforts training staff.

By 2030, the narrative seeks to increase the gross enrollment rate for children in pre-primary education (ages 4–6) to 35%, up from approximately 22.8% in 2025, by increasing the number of kindergarten classes in schools.

Doubling down on technical education

By 2030, the goal is for 55% of all secondary students to be in technical and vocational tracks, up from 44% today. The centerpiece of this push is the applied technology schools model with partnerships with private industrial players like Elsewedy Electric or GB Corp.

The government is targeting 100% employment of university places for all of these graduates by the end of the decade. But while the ambition and general direction is encouraging, the educational footprint to absorb some 55% of the youth population when only 511 of these schools currently exist will require a massive, rapid expansion of private-sector industrial partners willing to take on the teaching burden.

Al Azhar are succeeding where many others aren’t

Perhaps the most surprising data point in the 2030 strategy is the explosion of Al Azhar schools. While enrollment in general public schools grew at a sluggish 1.1% over the last three years, Al-Azhar schools saw a staggering 15% growth rate.

This isn’t just a cultural shift — it’s an economic one. Parents are fleeing the overcrowded public system for the perceived discipline and better teacher-to-student ratios in the Al Azhar system. The government’s response — targeting a 30% accreditation rate for Al-Azhar institutes by 2030 — is an attempt to bring this shadow education market under the same quality-control umbrella as the secular state system.

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