The Minister of Education holds a press conference to review preparations for the new academic year
Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, held a press conference; To review the details of procedures related to preparations for the new academic year 2023/2024.
At the beginning of his speech, the Minister congratulated those present on the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday and the beginning of the new academic year 2023/2024, directing his thanks and appreciation to His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, for his great interest in the education file, and the directive to provide 100 schools to support the educational process and invest in distinguished educational models. And preparing a generation of creative people capable of building and protecting the future of this country.
Dr. Reda Hegazy also confirmed that the Ministry seeks to provide a distinguished educational system. Based on quality assurance, which would achieve the goals of sustainable development, in preparation for the start of the new academic year 2023/2024, and in order to ensure the integration of all efforts made by the Ministry, through all the concerned bodies and authorities affiliated with it, as well as the educational directorates, among which is the work To create an appropriate, good, safe, and healthy climate for our students, along with our teachers, at the various stages and types of pre-university education in all schools, during the course of the educational process; In order to achieve a disciplined and safe new academic year.
During the meeting, Dr. Reda Hegazy reviewed the most important features of the procedures related to preparations for the new academic year, as he stressed that the number of students in schools is more than 25 million, and the Ministry is working to invest in these students to prepare a generation capable of innovation, pluralism, and competition.
During the meeting, the Minister reassured the high school students that there will be no change in the examination system this year, and that the examinations will be conducted exactly as last year, taking into account consideration of the lessons learned from last year’s examinations, in order to guarantee the rights of students.
The Minister also stressed that the rules and specifications of the high school exams, such as objective questions and multiple-choice questions, which are based on measuring learning outcomes and achieving justice and equal opportunities among students, will not be changed. He stressed that the high school students who obtained 95% or more in the three sections reached a percentage of one thousand students. While the number of students who obtained 90% to 95% reached 18 thousand students, and this returns the evaluation to its normal state.
The minister continued, saying: “We are all working on the file of developing the secondary stage for the benefit of the students and the nation, noting that Mr. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, directed that a community dialogue be held before any decisions are made so that parents can be informed of what is happening in this important file, and not to surprise students with any decisions.” It may cause nervous pressure on them and their families.
The Minister pointed out that the development of the high school file must keep pace with the industrial and technological revolution, digital transformation and artificial intelligence, and be based on understanding information and not memorization, and building his personality and independence. Therefore, the curricula and evaluation system must be reconsidered, which is what the National Center for Examinations and Educational Evaluation has done. With the participation of specialized centers, as well as studying the mechanisms of admission to universities in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in addition to accelerating education at this stage and offering several paths for the student to choose from.
The Minister pointed out that the idea of multiple attempts comes to eliminate fear on the part of students and families as a result of the only chance exam upon which the student’s future is determined, pointing out that multiple attempts are available in all international educational systems as well as our international schools, and that transparency, integrity and justice will be taken into account when applied.
The minister added that the student must have freedom of choice and paths available to him from which he can choose the path that suits his inclinations and abilities, in addition to the possibility of changing the path.
The Minister stressed that a strong community dialogue will be held with the participation of local and international experts and stakeholders, including parents and students. Let us be reassured about the implementation of this system, stressing that we will never risk implementing a system that does not suit the students because their interest is our primary goal, and this will not happen unless there is complete comfort in implementing it because the Egyptian state works for the benefit of its children and for the benefit of their families.
The Minister touched on the preparatory certificate exams, noting that the Bucklelet system will be implemented according to the choice and circumstances of each educational directorate, indicating that the primary goal is to control the examination process and prevent cheating, and this will be done in coordination with the governors. He directed the directors of the directorates to announce the system that will be implemented. In exams from the beginning of the first week of the academic year, so that the student prepares early for the exams.
The Minister also spoke about discovering and nurturing gifted and brilliant people as one of the important issues, indicating that the Ministry will complete this year what was implemented last year regarding the Day of Sports, Cultural and Artistic Activities in cooperation with the Ministries of Youth, Sports and Culture.
The Minister indicated that during the last period he followed up on reviewing school maintenance, saying: “We keep the security and safety of the student in mind for all of us.” In this context, the Minister explained that a school official has been identified to supervise the school’s regular maintenance and notice any defect in it to fix it immediately, in addition to submitting a report. He confirmed the school's maintenance status daily, stressing that he will personally follow up on these reports, in addition to his directives to the leaders of the educational directorates to be present in schools at the beginning of the academic year to ensure the regularity of the educational process.
The Minister continued that he directed that the first day of study be allocated to receive students in the first grades with a warm welcome, and the second day for the rest of the grades.
Regarding the position of textbooks, the Minister confirmed that 93% of the books have been supplied to educational directorates and the remaining percentage is being completed, indicating that all textbooks have been uploaded to the ministry’s website.
The Minister indicated that this year the slogan of education will be raised, emphasizing positive education and the values of citizenship, loyalty and belonging, explaining that the Ministry has implemented a training bag for social workers and psychologists with the aim of supporting positive education for students and spreading awareness of mental health in cooperation with the “Fahim” Foundation for Psychological Support, and aims to prepare a training bag. To train social and psychologists, in addition to school principals for the primary stage, stressing the importance of measuring the impact of the training packages that have been implemented and building on them.
Dr. Reda Hegazy confirmed that the school system and discipline regulations are specific to regulating the rights and duties of students and parents, and the responsibilities and powers of school employees; It aims to achieve student self-discipline inside and outside school, noting that discipline in the Egyptian school represents an important priority.
The Minister stressed the need to pay attention to students’ research activity, which helps develop students’ skills and abilities, as research is conducted at the end of each semester on the achievements of the Egyptian state, national projects, and challenges.
Regarding filling the shortage of teachers, the Minister confirmed that during the next few days, new teachers successful in the “30,000 Teachers” competition will join the work, and the quota system has also been allowed to work, as well as the use of teachers performing public service in all specialties.
Regarding the gifted, the proficient, and the outstanding, the minister stressed that the schools for excellence in science and technology “STEM” are a bright spot in Egyptian education, explaining that the School of Geniuses is an advanced model of STEM schools, and includes the top students in the first grade in these schools across the republic, noting that Providing a package of benefits for these students by implementing twinning with a number of schools in various countries of the world, as well as cooperating with Egyptian and international universities and research centers to ensure that distinguished educational and training content is provided to them, and to enhance their talents and abilities.
The Minister spoke about the distinguished schools, including official international schools, which are schools to provide an opportunity to attend international education with appropriate expenses. Likewise, Egypt’s integrated language schools are being launched, which are government language schools with a new idea and international standards, “semi international”, as they are considered smart schools, and they have practice activities. Different types of courses, and study in full-day format.
The Minister added that, believing in the necessity of supporting the gifted and talented, the Ministry will broadcast all their competitions and school leagues on the Madrasatna channel.
The minister said: “Within the framework of interest in alleviating the burden on the Egyptian family, we have implemented a package of measures, including providing educational and training materials from the fourth grade of primary school to the third grade of secondary school, which include a comprehensive and in-depth explanation, and contain electronic links that the student can view, in addition to... Exercises, questions, and exam forms for each study unit, from which a report appears showing the student’s strengths and weaknesses, and they have been made available on the Ministry’s website.
The Minister added that electronic question banks were also made available on the Ministry’s website from the fourth grade of primary school to the third grade of secondary school, to enrich the student’s training in solving questions and enrich the learning process.
Regarding curriculum development, Dr. Reda Hegazy stressed that the development aims to improve the quality of life of students and their families. Therefore, the educational curriculum development program was launched, within the new Egyptian education development system, and among the most prominent features of this program is the development of general education curricula and the preparation of advanced textbooks, starting from the stage of Kindergarten, up to the sixth grade of primary school, which is being implemented this year 2023/2024, and in order to ensure continuity and continuity of impact, and as soon as the development of the primary stage curricula was completed, we began this year to develop the preparatory stage curricula, and held several workshops, with continued assistance and support from the authorities. Supporting international organizations, national experts, teachers, parents, and even the students themselves, as those concerned with this development, pointing out that the Ministry has integrated modern concepts such as entrepreneurship, population issues and climate change, artificial intelligence, communication skills, and negotiation skills, into the curricula of all academic subjects. In an overlapping or cross-cutting manner through school activities, explaining that the students included in the development who have completed the primary stage and are moving on to the first year of middle school are the ones who will study these curricula starting from the 2024/2025 academic year.
The Minister stressed the importance of professional development for teachers so that they can implement the philosophy of the new curricula, and this development does not stop at one training program, but is an ongoing process throughout the academic year. He explained that in this context, a general framework for professional development for teachers has been prepared in cooperation with international bodies, and work is being done on The teacher performance standards document, in light of better learning that includes new skills for teachers that keep pace with metaphysics, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence, so that the teacher possesses new skills that qualify him to explain scientific material and communicate with students, stressing that a community dialogue will soon be held to document the announcement of the document’s standards.
The Minister also spoke about the importance of the role of the mentor, which is not limited to visiting schools, but is based on the professional development of teachers and on-the-job training, noting that 450,000 teachers were trained last year on teaching strategies, classroom management, national projects, and climate change, as well as integrating technology into the program. Educational and educational programs, as well as the educational platforms provided by the Ministry for training teachers, stressing that these programs will be completed to achieve the desired professional development.
Regarding the application of the second language for the preparatory stage, Dr. Reda Hegazy explained that the application will begin starting from the academic year 2024/2025.
Regarding support groups, the minister explained that the ministry sought to seek the help of distinguished teachers to provide the best educational service to students at reasonable prices.
The Minister also pointed out that the most famous distinguished teachers have joined educational channels this year, in addition to the presence of educational platforms. The Minister also emphasized the continuation of viewing periods for Our School channels in schools to support the educational process for students.