Egypt’s 2020/21 academic year to start on October 17

The first semester of the new 2020/21 academic year will start on 17 October, Tarek Shawky, Minister of Education and Technical Education, announced on Tuesday.

Shawky outlined the measures that will be taken during the new academic year, and noted that the biggest challenge the ministry faces is to ensure social distancing between students.

A variety of precautionary measures have been put in place nationwide, including at Egypt’s educational institutions, as part of efforts to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

Speaking at a press conference, the minister said that schools will be operating on a shift basis, with some schools operating on one shift, and others operating in two shifts. The proposed schedules will be sent to school directors, and every director will decide the schedule of their school.

Primary students will be required to attend school in person from Saturday to Wednesday, with schools set to operate over one shift. Students attending schools using the two shifts system will attend three days only.

Shawky said that preparatory school attendance will be divided into three sections from Saturday to Thursday, with every student required to attend school twice weekly. He pointed out that all preparatory school classes will be broadcast again on educational television channels, for students to review curriculum content.

High school students will attend only two days per week, with the upcoming academic year’s high school leaving (Thanaweyya Amma) exams set to take place electronically. They will also be marked electronically.

The format for the Thanaweyya Amma exams will also change in the 2020/2021 academic year, with questions laid out as multiple choices and true or false questions only, Shawky confirmed.

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