Thanaweya Amma students to take exams on tablets

CAIRO – 16 April 2018: Minister of Education Tarek Shawki said that his ministry has contacted the Ministry of Communications to provide Thanweya Amma (high school) students with tablets, among efforts to establish a new educational mechanism.

Earlier this month, Shawki announced that Thanaweya Amma students of one school will take their unified exam that is different from another school’s unified exam. Currently, Thanaweya Amma students nationwide take the same unified exam in each subject.

Shawki said that Egypt will sign a deal with the World Bank for $500 million to fund the government’s plan in the presence of Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr in Washington.

The World Bank's board of executive directors unanimously approved supporting Egypt’s national education strategy to develop pre-university education with $500 million, a statement from the Investment and International Cooperation Ministry said Saturday.

In a released statement, the bank said that the funding will support increasing access to quality kindergarten education, improving the quality of learning and adopting technology as a vehicle to achieve the reform objectives.

Shawki said that students would receive their exams on the tablet and will answer the questions digitally. However, it does not mean that they will not have to attend the school, as students with high absence rates would not be allowed to enter the exams.

According to state-run Al-Ahram newspaper, the new educational system will be implemented next September, noting that it will not be applied on students in international schools.

The Thanaweya Amma system will require students to have three years of study in this educational stage, instead of a single year in the current system.

Students will have 12 exams in each school subject throughout the years of study in the new system, where marks of the highest six exams in each subject will be calculated.

All the tablets that would be handed to students and teachers would be for free, and high speed WiFi service would be provided to schools. Students will have books in addition to the tablets as a reference.

Nasr said on Saturday that the bank’s decision reflects the increased cooperation between Egypt and the international institution, saying that the funding is considered the largest for supporting education in Egypt.

The funding will focus on four main areas, including improving access to and the quality of early childhood education, developing a reliable student assessment and examination system, enhancing the capacity of teachers and supervisors, and using modern technology for teaching, assessing students and collecting data, as well as expanding the use of digital learning resources.

The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 26 projects for a total commitment of $5.92 billion, according to the bank’s website.