Details
Demand
High
Busiest
Sep-Jun
All Year
Currency
£
Egyptian Pounds (EGP)
Contract
3 months+
Normally
Taxes
Moderate
- Summary
- Tourism is a massive industry here, so demand for English teachers is always high
- Main TEFL regions
- Cairo (city centre and suburbs)
- Types of teaching
- International schools: General English, English for Younger Learners
Private language schools: General English, Business English
Universities: General English, English for Specific Purposes
Private tuition: General English, Business English - Accommodation
- The better employers provide free accommodation or an accommodation allowance. If you have to find your own place, expect to pay E£500 (US$95) per month for a decent shared flat.
- Flight reimbursement
- Some schools provide a bonus at the end of a long contract to pay for your flight home.
- Salary
- You can earn anything from E£1,000-8,000 (US$200-1,500) per month, depending on your qualifications and experience. You can charge E£30-120 per hour for private lessons. Many teachers are paid part of their salaries in US Dollars or English Pounds to make transferring money easier.
- Taxes
- Income tax is moderate here. At the lower end of the pay scale, you’ll pay about 6% of your salary as tax; as a well-paid teacher, it’ll be more like 16%.
- Cost of living
- It’s possible to get by on very little money in Egypt. A drink in a café costs about E£8 (US$1.50), a cheap meal is only E£20 (US$4), while a falafel can be less than E£1 (20 cents)!
- Potential to save money
- If you watch your money, there’s a good chance that you can save the equivalent of a couple of hundred US dollars each month.
- How much TEFL training is recommended?
- As much as you can: while it's possible to get by with very little training, a comprehensive qualification such as i-to-i’s 100-hour Combined Course will help you avoid the less scrupulous employers.
- Common teaching conditions
- It’s the usual deal of 25 contact hour per week.
- To call the students energetic would be an understatement! They are often rowdy and unruly, but if you’re open-minded and willing to experiment, teaching them can be a lot of fun.
Be aware…
Most schools are profit-driven and many have little regard for teaching standards. If possible, try to get some recommendations before choosing your employer.
