Egypt's pres. gives students choice to receive education in-person or remotely

CAIRO – 14 February 2021: Ahead of the second semester of academic year 2020/2021, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi instructed giving parents the choice to either send their children to school or let them attend classes online.

That was in a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Minister of Education and Technical Education Tarek Shawky whereas the plan to hold the exams of the first semester and run the education process in the second semester was displayed.   

Presidency Spokesperson Bassam Rady stated that Sisi also instructed enforcing protective measures.

In a different context, the president was briefed on the steps taken to develop education, particularly ways to improve pupils' fitness and capacity-building programs targeted at teachers.

On his side, the president urged introducing digital platforms on which Egyptian students living abroad can take exams.

Minister Shawky presented the strategy adopted to expand the Egyptian Knowledge Bank to become a strong platform for scientific research. He added that the ministry aims for administering tests and grading through digital platforms for high-school senior classes on the long run.

As for tutoring in time of COVID-19, the ministry launched two TV channels to broadcast lectures making up for students as they used to go to school for 2-3 days a week. Those are called "Our School 1", and "Our School 2."

With regard to modernizing technical education, Shawky presented the ministry's plan to expand in teaching applied technology. That is by partnering with the private sector and international institutions operating in relevant sectors to establish schools that would produce workers qualified for such fields.