Egypt’s Minister of Education and Technical Education, Dr. Tarek Shawki, announced the Ministry’s upcoming plans for the pre-university students, during the current closure of schools and universities to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Distance Education for schools:
The minister affirmed the implementation of “distance education” in the past few days, due to the circumstances that the country is currently experiencing due to the novel Coronavirus.
The minister unveiled the following solutions:
– Creating a digital library along with the Egyptian Knowledge Bank “EKB”.
– Satellite educational channels.
– Creating a digital platform for communication between students and teachers in the coming period.
He also pointed out that “Many videos will be published in the coming days to explain to students how to use the digital platform to communicate. The students will receive their code from their class teacher that enables them to enter the online class and follow up with the teacher electronically.”
1- Digital library along with Egyptian Knowledge Bank “EKB”.
The creation of a digital library along with the Egyptian Knowledge Bank “EKB” will help students study, as it give access to the entire curriculum for any subject, targeting kindergarten kids up to the secondary stage.
It contains tremendous digital scientific content for all grade levels, and the usage of multimedia such as “video, pictures, documentary films” to explain lessons.
The library also provides access to more than 80 dictionaries and glossaries, Encyclopedia of Butterflies books, multidisciplinary learning modules, and the new education system 2.0.
It is available in both Arabic and English. All students, parents, and teachers can smoothly gain access to the digital library from the mobile or computer through the link: https://study.ekb.eg
2- Satellite educational channels:
The Ministry provided another alternative, which is the educational channels that will broadcast the curriculum and lessons on television.
3- Digital communication plan:
The Ministry provided another plan- creating a digital platform for communication between students and teachers in the coming period; approximately 22 million students from nearly 55,000 schools will be able to communicate as if they were at school.
The students will follow up on the lessons and take exams online, via the link: https://edmodo.org
The fate of final exams:
The ministry officially unveiled the plan for the fate of final year exams this term for Egyptian students.
It affirmed that there is no intention to remove parts of the curriculum. The ministry also stressed on the need to rely on the curricula broadcast by the ministry, and not to rely on any other source.
Exam procedures are as follows:
Kindergarten stage (kg1- kg2), first and second grades:
The new education system (2.0) will be applied, where the teachers of students at the kindergarten stage, first and second grades write a performance report.
They will also ask the students’ parents to make sure they complete the curriculum published on the digital library and platform as well as to make use of the guide on it.
From the third primary to second preparatory:
Examinations for third grade to second preparatory students will not take place at the final year exams this term.
However, they are required to do a research project for each subject on the digital platform. The student can contact the class teacher to help them carry it out within two months from yesterday.
General certificate and technical diploma:
The final year exams this term will be held as scheduled, while taking all the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the student children in the examination rooms, in cooperation with all the entitled state authorities.
First and second secondary grades:
The electronic test for the end of the academic year for the first and second secondary grades has been postponed from March 22 and will be rescheduled to April 5.
The exam will be conducted from home and will be corrected electronically. The results will be sent to students.
Furthermore, the students will conduct a practice test, to prepare them for the final exams.
Meanwhile, the homeschooled students in the first and second secondary grades, as well as students with special needs in the same grades, will undertake the project preparation system (research).
Egyptian students abroad:
Egyptian students abroad will undertake the digital platform and library as well as the project system (research), and will not take any exam, due to the circumstances of the countries they reside in.
Contributed by Yara Sameh
