The elementary schools, in Aswan and Edfu, had their fees reduced from 10 piasters to 5 piasters annually, in response to the desire of the Ministry of Education and considering the poverty of those areas compared to other regions of Egypt. The number of students in those schools increased by fifty percent after this reduction.

The second matter that drew attention was the language of instruction in the schools, and the utmost desire was for instruction to be as much as possible in Arabic. This is the demand that the Ministry of Education must strive for, and it is indeed striving for it. As for the difficulties that prevent the swift realization of this wish, they were elaborated by the advisor to the Ministry of Education in his subsequent memorandum to Lord Cromer's last report. The greatest obstacle is the lack of qualified national teachers. The measures taken to increase them have been given first priority in the Ministry of Education's budget for the current year, which will be evident when discussing this subject in this report.

In addition to that, the number of lessons taught in Arabic has increased. Geography, which was taught in English in the third and fourth years of elementary school, has been taught only in Arabic since the spring of last year. The use of English in these schools has been limited to teaching the language itself. An important change occurred at the beginning of this year in secondary schools. The curriculum there was previously entirely in foreign languages. This year, however, arithmetic and geometry are taught in Arabic in the first year, and they are taught by Egyptian teachers. This will lead to Arabic being used in the subsequent years. The difficulty of finding qualified national teachers has also become apparent here. It is hoped that the government's demonstrated desire to appoint Egyptian teachers in secondary schools will encourage elite Egyptian youth to pursue teaching as a profession, thus facilitating the provision of teachers for the change that has now begun. To further encourage teaching in Arabic, it has been decided that from now on, candidates for the secondary certificate will be allowed to take their exams in Arabic in the subjects they have studied in that language.

Some have repeatedly expressed a desire to extend elementary education to the provinces, but I do not believe they are ready for this step. I am convinced that most Egyptians who have considered the matter share my opinion. However, if there is a group in the nation that truly desires to bring this proposal to fruition as a form of education, the means to achieve their aspirations are clear. If the bill concerning the directorates is approved in its current form, this law will assign the directorates the responsibility of supervising elementary education and grant them the right to allocate the necessary funds for it by imposing local taxes.