Minister of Education and Technical Education Mohamed Abdel Latif has announced a comprehensive set of new regulations for international schools, including a ban on campus celebrations that clash with Egyptian culture and national identity.
During a meeting with international school directors, Abdel Latif stated that events hosted on campuses must align strictly with state-recognized religious and national holidays. Permitted occasions include Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Christmas, Sham el-Nessim, Easter, and official national observances, while events such as Halloween will no longer be allowed.
The ministry also enacted measures to end homeschooling operations, warning that any unauthorized entities running such programs will be referred to the public prosecution. Newly formed inspection committees will review international schools to ensure student enrollments do not exceed licensed capacities.
Fee changes and accreditation updates
A circular distributed to educational directorates nationwide halts channels used to collect school fees in foreign currency and transfer those funds abroad. Under previous systems, parents of students pursuing American diplomas paid around USD 10 million in dollar-denominated accreditation fees.
The Ministry of Education will now handle accreditation directly, eliminating separate foreign-currency charges for certificate recognition. Ministry accreditation will be sufficient for university admission in Egypt.
Transfer rules and curriculum hours
The ministry restricted secondary education transfers at schools offering special-nature international curricula to students entering the first secondary grade only.
Additionally, the ministry recently mandated that international schools dedicate more instructional hours to the Arabic language and history subjects.
