The start of the new academic year is just around the corner, but schools have yet to announce their tuition fees: Although private and international schools typically announce their tuition fees for the upcoming academic year as early as April, we’re just a few weeks away from classes starting, with no word from schools on their fees for the 2023-24 academic year. In the past, some schools have requested deposits from parents before the end of the previous academic year in June, before announcing the final fees over the summer holiday. The delayed announcements are a result of a combination of factors, including expectations that the official EGP / USD rate could weaken further in the coming weeks or months, while several schools are still in talks with the Education Ministry to approve their fees, our sources tell us.

When are classes starting? Students at Cairo American College will be back in class next Wednesday, 16 August, followed by BISC and NCBIS on 28 August. El Alsson and AIS are expected to start their academic year on 3 September.

What’s the hold-up? Mostly waiting on the ministry to sign off on school fees: Private and international schools regulated by the Education Ministry (a group that excludes many schools owned by parent associations, such as MBIS, and other external bodies) are required to get ministry approval each year on their tuition fees before announcing them to parents. So far, many schools haven’t yet received the green light from the ministry, several sources told us.

REMEMBER- Schools are currently only allowed to raise their tuition fees 7% each academic year — a cap the Education Ministry introduced in 2017 and began imposing as of the 2019-20 academic year for all schools under its jurisdiction. Private schools under the ministry’s jurisdiction have been lobbying the ministry for the past few years to revise the cap in light of rising inflation and, more recently, the EGP devaluation. The ministry agreed last year to a compromise to allow schools to calculate the annual increase based on the previous academic year — rather than based on fees in the 2015-16 academic year — which provided some breathing room. The ministry has also allowed schools to apply for one-time exceptions to the tuition rise cap.

This is a year when several schools are hoping for an exception, as rising inflation and the devaluation of the EGP has pushed schools’ CAPEX costs far above the 7% threshold. “We’ve had some communication with the ministry about fees and we are seeking an exception for the allowed rate of increase,” Tammam Abu Shakra, advisor to the chairman of Esol Education — which which owns and operates AIS, AIS West, and CES in Egypt, as well as seven schools in other countries — told Enterprise. “I would say that it is unrealistic to expect schools to limit their annual fee increases to 7% when the official inflation rate is over 30% and the cost of foreign currency has effectively doubled compared to the last academic year,” Abu Shakra told us. Inflation hit a record high in June, with annual urban inflation hitting 35.7% during the month, caused in part by FX rate pressures.

The process to receive ministry approval is also typically lengthy and complicated: “We have to show the ministry that we are running the business at a loss to give us an exception and raise the fees. This is a lengthy process that takes at least 6 months in normal circumstances but this is not normal,” said Karim Mostafa, CEO of Eduhive.

But it’s not just the increase approvals that are getting in the way: The government hasn’t approved anyone’s fees yet, whether they applied for an increase or not, our sources told us. “As far as I know to date the Education Ministry has not yet approved the budgets for any schools,” educator and school manager Walid Askar told us. “We are awaiting the Education Ministry’s decisions on school fees for 2023-2024. Depending on the ministry’s timeline for decisions on fees, schools are often unable to announce their final fee schedules until August or even early September,” Abu Shakra told us.

With uncertain market conditions, schools have been having a tough time even setting their own fees: Following the devaluation of the EGP and with speculations of further currency weakening in the coming weeks or months, coupled with a growing parallel market, schools are struggling to plan for the full year ahead and set their expected tuition fees. “The gap between the official and parallel FX rates is huge, and we have a large USD cost component since we pay most of our teachers in USD since they’re foreigners. How can we calculate our fees?” Mostafa said. “This is an exceptional year due to the devaluation of the EGP and the high rate of inflation, so the decisions are more complicated than in most years,” said Tammam Abushakra.

Your top education stories for the week:

  • Thanaweya Amma results are out: Some 78.8% of students passed their Thanawya Amma exams this year.
  • President Abdel Fattah El Sisi approved the establishment of El Sewedy University of Technologyin Tenth of Ramadan City, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday.
  • A new council for education, training: The National Dialogue discussed a draft law establishing a new council for education and training last week.
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