Mubarak signs teachers’ pay bill

President Hosni Mubarak yesterday signed a long-awaited law on teachers’ pay, which was passed by the People’s Assembly (the lower house of the Egyptian Parliament) on Wednesday. As of July 1, teachers and all other personnel involved in education will be entitled to pay rises.

“This draft law is a step towards improving education process and we shall go forward with the development of technical and vocational training centres,” Mubarak said.“Increasing teachers’ pay is a gesture of recognition of their role in building our society,” Mubarak added.He added that he would issue a presidential decree in a few days’ time to set up a council comprising high-ranking officials and experts to guarantee top-quality education.”We intend to reinforce participation between the private and public sectors and go ahead with decentralising education nationwide,” he said.Since 1981, more than 22,000 schools have been built to serve 8 million students, Mubarak added, stressing that upgrading educational syllabuses and improving teachers’ standards of living still topped the educational reform agenda.