It is a badly-kept secret that the principals of many government schools in Egypt will only agree to accept students in return for “extra fees.”

After decades of suffering, parents became increasingly vocal in their opposition to the practice four years ago, when a group sent a letter of complaint to the ministry of education alleging that several schools had refused to accept their children unless they made “donations.”

But it was not until two years later that the issue received government attention.

In 2002, then-minister of education, Hussein Kamal Bahaa Eddin, paid surprise visits to schools in eight governorates. He said he found parents who had paid several hundred Egyptian pounds to have their children enrolled in or transferred to a school.

Several parents told the minister they had also been asked to provide building materials, desks, blackboards, paint, chairs, and computers. In some cases parents were asked to pay the wages of construction workers, even though the schools received funds for such work from the ministry of education. The understanding was that teachers then split the extra money raised between them.

Bahaa Eddin condemned the practice, putting the blame squarely on dishonest principals.

He promised parents that no extra fees would be imposed henceforth. However, little has changed – to the extent that the current minister has found it necessary to make the same assurances.

The ministry of education has now released a document detailing any costs to be borne by parents. According to the document, parents face costs of E£30 to E£60, to cover fees and school books. Parents who cannot afford fees will have the option to pay in two installments.

Despite the announcement, however, many parents said they had been asked for higher sums at the start of the current school year.

“A couple of years ago I paid about E£200 to a respected school in Giza in order to have my son transferred there,” said mother-of-three Hala Mahmoud. “The same story happened a month ago when I wanted to get my younger son transferred from a school in northern Giza to a better school in the center of Giza, like his brother. This time I had to pay E£400,” she said.

Mahmoud Said friends and neighbors faced similar demands. “My neighbor refused to pay because their son had already been transferred by his preparatory school, but the principal told her it was for the sake of the school to donate and she had to pay, so she paid.”

Parents claim that well-established government schools in Cairo and Giza – particularly those at the top of the exam league tables – have been demanding “donations” from parents for about four years.

Eager to provide their children with the best education possible, few parents refuse.

Muhammad Sayed said he had to pay E£300 to one well-known boys school, because his son had low marks and would not have been admitted otherwise. He said the donation was worth it, and he was happy not to have to pay more.

“All I cared about was to get my son into a school that would give him a good education. The headmaster gave me a sealed receipt – a paper that is given to everyone who pays at any school – and so I felt it was something official,” he said.

But it is not just parents of students with low marks who must pay – even top-scorers have been forced to contribute.

“We all believed that students who have to pay are those who did not get high grades in the previous school years, but apparently we were all mistaken,” said mother-of-two Norhan Ibrahim.  

“I had to pay E£300 to a school in Sayida Zeinab, despite the fact that my son got very high marks last year, above those requested by the school,” Ibrahim complained.

But she said she was lucky not to be asked for expensive equipment such as computers, as others she knows had been.

In a bid to crack down on the practice, an official from the educational administration of Giza said inappropriate behavior by school principals would result in their transfer.

“The cause of the whole problem is the recommendations of the People’s Assembly and NDP members to appoint certain people to these important educational positions in order to benefit from them,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Despite the ministry’s attempts to distance itself from reports of forced donations, however, parents remain convinced that the ministry itself has contributed to the phenomenon, which exists only in government schools. Some of the funds, they say, must end up in ministry coffers.

The local press has recently published letters from parents asking the ministry of education to waive school fees in compensation for the extra payments they have made. A source at the education ministry told the Middle East Times that the ministry has received thousands of such requests, from parents who said they cannot afford the fees demanded.

Some parents complain that the ministry of education is allowing government schools to be transformed into private schools. It is, they say, the end of the free education era.

“How come the ministry still talks about free education if we are asked to pay this huge sum of money every year?” asked one father, who asked to remain anonymous. “It is better for us to pay an extra hundred pounds and enroll our kids in a private school. At least then I will be sure they will receive better education and be better treated,” he said.