In a space where education intersects with business, and where reputation and influence are intertwined, facts have emerged during the recent period that reflect a rougher face of the phenomenon of private lessons in Egypt, after it has transformed from a “parallel solution” into a stand-alone force that is difficult to ignore or even criticize at times.
Private lessons…a parallel market that is becoming more complex
The first story was narrated by Dr. Muhammad Fathi, a journalist and academic writer specializing in media affairs, who said that he found himself facing what looked like a “solid wall” following his criticism of the well-known teacher M. p.
According to his account, the matter began with a blog post in which he warned against the teacher’s use of a Salafist preacher and chanter during a study review, wondering about the messages that could reach students in this context, and demanding oversight to prevent the passing of extremist or inappropriate ideas within educational content.
But what followed, according to a post by Fathi on Facebook, went beyond the limits of normal controversy, as the comments turned into a widespread attack, before his posts were successively deleted from the platform on the grounds of violating intellectual property rights.
He says that he received a threatening message via WhatsApp from a person who assured him of his ability to delete the content, before he quickly disappeared after documenting the messages.
Fathi adds that his attempts to republish the story failed, suggesting that registering the teacher’s name as a trademark allowed the platform’s tools to be used to block any critical content, in addition to the aforementioned teacher seeking the help of an India-based media company to launch reports against him on Facebook in exchange for a large sum of money, in a scene that he sees as revealing the ability of some “stars” to employ legal and technical tools to protect their image and influence.
Warnings about the chaos of content inside the screen
On the other hand, field testimony came from within the system itself, as Anas Abdel Maboud, an English language teacher at the Shubra Educational Administration, issued a different kind of warning, not related to attacks on critics, but rather to what he described as “content chaos” within educational platforms.
He said that a number of non-specialized teachers have begun to provide explanations in subjects for which they do not have scientific tools, which leads to confusion among students, distorting their understanding, and even causing some of them to lose confidence in their abilities.
The teacher pointed out that his call to subject providers of educational content to assessment tests was also met with sharp responses, which amounted to threats and abuse, despite his assertion that his talk was “purely scientific” and aimed at protecting students, not targeting specific people.
Between the two incidents, a clearer picture is forming, of a parallel educational market that is no longer just a side activity, but rather a huge system with its tools, audience, and defense mechanisms, a power that is not based only on money, but on direct influence on hundreds of thousands of students, and on a digital presence that gives it the ability to spread, and sometimes to deter.
Official moves to control the phenomenon
In this context, the Ministry of Education was not idle. Rather, its movements came as part of an extended process to confront the phenomenon, and not a new measure, as the Ministry had previously issued, in a circular letter to educational directorates at the beginning of the year, directives on the necessity of taking the necessary measures against those who practice the teaching profession unlawfully, especially within private tutoring centers, including teachers on unpaid leave or long vacations, who exploit these periods to work outside the official framework.
The directives stressed, at the time, the importance of confronting the phenomenon of private lessons in preparation for reducing them, with an emphasis on applying legal procedures towards violators, especially those who are absent from school or who are not committed to attending according to school schedules.
The procedures proposed at that time also included a number of topics, including:
Activating school support groups within schools as a formal educational alternative.
Taking legal and supervisory measures against those caught inside the centre.
Applying gradual administrative penalties that may begin with deduction from the salary, and extend in cases of recurrence to transfer or removal from work within the governorate.
The Ministry’s vision: Bringing education back to school
Within the framework of this official approach, the Minister of Education, Education and Technical Education, Mohamed Abdel Latif, confirmed that the primary goal of the Ministry is to re-centralize the entire educational process within the school, so that it depends on the Ministry’s teachers directly, while activating strengthening groups within schools for weak students, in a way that reinforces the idea that education must take place within the official educational institution.
The Minister pointed out that the phenomenon of private lessons, although it has been going on for many years and is socially rooted, requires time and gradual change, not just quick decisions. In the same context, he explained that the activity of what is known as “centers” has witnessed a noticeable decline during the recent period, as its size decreased by rates ranging from 50% to 60%, as a result of the increased commitment of students to attend schools, which led to a reduction in the work of these centers during the morning period, especially for students in the transfer years.
This proposal confirms, according to the Ministry’s vision, that the ultimate goal is to re-attract the student to school as the primary source of education, and reduce dependence on any parallel educational paths outside it.
A crisis that challenges the rules.. Teachers are not as powerful as the ministry
But on the other hand, a more complex problem arises related to the nature of some of those responsible for this activity, as some of the actors in the private tutoring market are not necessarily among the officially appointed cadres in the Ministry of Education, which makes the application of some traditional punitive measures to them more limited from an administrative standpoint.
Bullying electronic rules and exploiting students
In this context, some of them rely on their strong presence on social media platforms, and the broad support they enjoy from students and parents, which gives them the ability to form electronic public opinion that may sometimes be used to confront any criticism or attempts at regulation, which complicates the issue of controlling this market and makes it more intertwined between education and digital influence.
Controversy over Senate interests and media attacks
But this scene is not without another reading, as journalist Mohamed Fouda believes that this matter and this influence is the reason for the attack on the Minister of Education, and he stresses that it cannot be separated from the conflict with what he described as “private tutoring interests,” considering that the ministry’s movements directly affected the exchange market, which prompted some of its beneficiaries to launch criticism campaigns via social media.
On the other hand, Dr. Tamer Shawky, professor of educational psychology at Ain Shams University, offers a more synthetic reading of the phenomenon, considering that private lessons have become a parallel educational space that suffers from the absence of control over the content and those responsible for it.
Shawqi points out that there is not yet a clear legal system that comprehensively regulates this activity, whether with regard to the educational qualifications of teachers, the quality of the content, or even review mechanisms, pointing out that some of those in charge of teaching may not have an appropriate educational qualification despite their actual practice in the educational process.
A psychological reading of the danger of parallel educational influence
The educational expert also explains that the transition of private lessons to electronic platforms has doubled the size of the impact, as some teachers can now reach hundreds of thousands of students, instead of a limited scope within schools, which has increased the size of the educational and intellectual impact.
The student between psychological influence and uncontrolled reception
He adds that students of different ages, especially in their teenage years, are more susceptible to the educational models they deal with, which gives the teacher a role that goes beyond explanation to shaping part of awareness and behavior.
The state, the media, and the family… How do we confront the seriousness of the matter?
Based on this, Dr. Tamer Shawqi proposes a vision based on the trilogy of confrontation, which is controlling the role of the state through licensing and oversight, activating the role of the media in raising awareness, and strengthening the role of the family in monitoring and choosing, as it is the first line of defense in confronting any defect within this system.
And between these multiple angles, from digital influence, to media controversy, to psychological analysis, to attempts at official regulation, a more complex picture is forming of a parallel educational market that is no longer just a side activity, but rather a self-contained system that has emerged from the margins to the main body, possessing its own tools, audience, and ability to influence, and in some cases, impose its own rules, or at least make the cost of opposing it higher than many expect, as happened in the two previous incidents.
