Education officials in the New Valley decided to close a school that had only one student and 12 teachers to avoid squandering public money.
Besides the teaching staff, the school has employees and janitors all of whom served one student in the primary stage of education.
Mahmoud became the only student in the school after the village residents relocated to a village called Port Said al-Gadida and enrolled their children in other schools.
Mahmoud says he has good relations with his teachers but misses mixing and socialising with others his age.
"In the break, I play with older students. I will not leave this school because I live in this village. It is not my fault that I am the only student here. I have received the school textbooks and have my lessons on schedule."
Iman Ali, a social studies teacher at the school, says, "All the teachers and I are ready to explain the lessons to this student until the last day of the academic year."
While Egypt’s population hit 85 million in August according to government reports, South Sinai, the New Valley and the Red Sea are the least densely populated of all Egyptian governorates.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
