The Minister of Education Al-Hilali Al-Sherbini has requested LE70 million from the Cabinet to print the second term's curricula, referring to increases in the price of paper and printing materials due to the flotation of the pound, an official source with the Ministry of Education revealed.
The ministry will have to print 85 million books in its printing houses before the start of the second term in February, while 5 million books will be printed in Interior-Ministry-affiliated printing houses, the source added.
The Education Ministry awaits the response of the Cabinet and the Finance Ministry.
According to the source, the price of a ton of paper jumped to LE13,000, from LE6,200 before the flotation.
The ministry was unable to print about 300,000 copies of the first term's books, mostly foreign language books for primary school, he added.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
