Egypt's Health Ministry denies Education Ministry's appeal to cancel 2nd semester to preserve students' health

 

In an official statement, the Ministry of Health emphasized the need to follow precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus during the study period.

 

The second term of Egypt’s school-year has begun across 12 governorates on March 13, including schools affiliated with the Church, private schools, and Egyptian-Japanese, Arabic, and language schools.

 

A reciprocal schedule has been prepared that achieves the necessary distancing between students, similar to attendance days in the first semester, the Ministry of Education announced, adding that guardians still have the option of not sending their children to school.

 

The ministry also announced that it has concluded all preparations for the second semester and has taken all measures to manage the academic process while preserving the safety of everyone involved.

 

This current school year is exceptional due to the coronavirus pandemic, it explained, adding it has prepared all procedures to ensure excellent educational service in conjunction with all precautions to protect students and teachers.

 

Specific protocols are in place if of a positive coronavirus case, done so in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, which will involve shutting down one or more classes or even the entire school.

 

The education and higher education ministries ordered schools and universities in December to switch back to online learning as of January 2 due to a surge in cases.The exams of the first semester were held in late February.

 

In February, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has directed that students' parents be given the freedom to adopt the appropriate method for their children to complete the current school year, either through in-class education or via distance learning, a presidential statement said.

 

El-Sisi's directives came during his meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Education Tarek Shawki, in which the ministry's plans and procedures for holding the mid-year exams and the resumption of the 2020/2021 academic year in schools were reviewed.

 

In December, the Egyptian cabinet postponed first-term exams at schools and universities until the end of the mid-year break to mitigate the impact of a second wave of the coronavirus.

 

According to the presidential statement, El-Sisi asserted the necessity of implementing precautionary measures when schools go back in session.

 

Some parents made sure their children attended school to benefit from the teacher's face-to-face explanation. Yara's mother said she did not want her daughter to be absent from school to help her daughter benefit from the teacher’s explanation.

 

On the other hand, Nour's father said that he didn't want his son to attend school because the number of students is very few, and some of them did not adhere to the precautionary measures decided by the Ministry of Health in schools.

 

The government launched its vaccination campaign on January 24 for priority groups, however, officials are predicting a slow rollout as the country waits for the arrival of vaccine orders. The ministry is currently using China’s Sinopharm and AstraOxford vaccine and the Russian Sputnik V sputnik shortly.

 

The vaccination campaign started in Egypt with medical teams, and earlier this month with seniors and those with underlying health conditions.