The above-mentioned factors have led to the different private education institu-
tions flourishing, especially in Cairo and in Alexandria, because in these two
mega-cities income levels are much higher than in the rest of the country.
In other large cities, growth in the private educational sector is much slower,
and in purely rural areas it is almost absent. Private education has become
a lucrative business for investors. This is why shareholder companies have
started gaining ground in this sector, too. According to Al-Ahram Weekly (15–22
February 2001) the Minister of Education declared the government’s inten-
tion of encouraging private cooperatives to establish schools which the state
might then rent from them.