Egypt issues decision facilitating final exams for secondary grades students

CAIRO - 27 March 2020: The final exams for secondary grades students will be conducted on curriculum materials introduced over the time span from September 2019 to March 15, 2020, as a part of the government’s preventive measures against the outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19), said Egyptian Cabinet in a statement on Thursday.

The curriculum topics have been cut to facilitate the study. The decision has been taken after the government suspended the study at the schools and universities for more two weeks to be resumed mid-April.

On March 19, Egyptian Minister of Education Tareq Shawki canceled final examination for primary and preparatory school students amid the fears of the coronavirus.

In a televised speech, Minister Tareq Shawki reviewed the ministry’s plan to facilitate e-educational methods for the students who stay at home after president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi decreed the suspension of the study at schools and universities nationwide amid the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic for two weeks starting from March 15, 2020.

Egypt’s Health Ministry announced Thursday that 39 new cases have tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of infections in Egypt to 495.

The Egyptian government has taken gradual steps in dealing with the coronavirus spread, starting from banning the study at schools and universities and suspending the international flights to mid April. A partial curfew was imposed, while all restaurants, cafes, cafeterias, casinos, night clubs, bars, shopping centers (malls), and other local shops shut down completely until April 14, 2020.

The virus was announced as pandemic by WHO on March 10, 2020. As yet, the global infected cases of the virus reached 552,589 people and 25,042 deaths were reported, while the recovered cases rose to 128,704.