PM, Education minister to hold press conference Wednesday amid reports of awaited Thanaweya Amma reforms

CAIRO – 14 August 2024: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Education and Technical Education Mohamed Abdel Latif are set to host a press conference on Wednesday to address challenges within pre-university education.

The upcoming conference follows widespread reports suggesting significant structural reforms for Grade 12 of the national high school system, Thanaweya Amma, including potential adjustments to mandatory and elective subjects. These reports have yet to receive official confirmation, with sources within the Ministry of Education reportedly refuting them, as cited by the Masrawy news website.

However, the ministry recently highlighted that the Supreme Council for Pre-University Education has greenlit a plan to revamp Thanaweya Amma in alignment with global educational standards. Egypt stands out as the sole country where the high school phase entails as many as 32 mandatory subjects, a figure the new plan aims to reduce to harmonize with international norms.

Sources indicate that Abdel Latif will elaborate on the government's measures to upgrade the Thanaweya Amma system and its subjects during the press conference.

Moreover, recent developments within the science branch of Thanaweya Amma have stirred confusion, particularly regarding a sudden change in the recently-announced scores for the academic year 2023/2024.

This confusion arose from a multiple-choice question in physics that was reevaluated, revealing ambiguity with potentially dual correct answers. Consequently, the ministry awarded full marks for this question to students who selected either option, leading to revisions in the top achievers list.

While addressing these issues, the conference is expected to shed light on the ministry's strategies to alleviate the persistent challenge of overcrowded government schools. Reports from Youm7 suggest that some schools currently accommodate up to 210 students per class, a situation the ministry aims to rectify by reducing class sizes to a maximum of 50 through new initiatives.

Egypt Today will be covering the press conference later today, so stay tuned.