President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said Egypt needs to recruit 30,000 new teachers.

In a speech on Teachers' Day, El-Sisi said 1,150 schools would be built in a year, adding that Egypt needs 10,000 new schools nationwide.

He said new "quality" teachers are needed. But added that LE18 billion would have to be found to increase raise teachers' salaries by LE1,000 per month.  

He made it clear, however, that this money would not be available soon and urged teachers to "stand by Egypt" first.

Egypt has long suffered from a deteriorating education system, which has been mostly blamed on insufficient government investment.

Schools suffer from a lack of facilities and a poor curriculum, while teachers complain of insufficient salaries.

Egypt was ranked last out of 148 countries surveyed in the 2012-2013 Global Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum, for the quality of its primary education.

In August, Education Minister Mahmoud Abou Nasr said his ministry has a long-term plan to improve education in Egypt, which would commence its preliminary stage from 2014 to 2017 and would last until 2030.

The plan includes the introduction of a nutrition programme in all public schools, eliminating illiteracy, and reducing the number of students dropping out of school.

Meanwhile, public spending on education in the 2014/15 budget will be LE94.4 billion, compared to LE83.5 billion the previous year, according to the finance ministry website.