The Minister of Education responds to discussion requests and inquiries from representatives
Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, during the general session of the Senate headed by Counselor Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek, commented on the discussion requests and inquiries from representatives during the session to clarify the ministry's vision and mechanisms towards a number of files related to controlling the educational system.
This was attended by Dr. Ahmed Al-Mohammadi, Assistant Minister for Strategic Planning and Follow-up, Walid Maher, Director General of the General Administration of Political Communication and Parliamentary Affairs at the Ministry, and Shady Zalta, Media Advisor and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry.
Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif explained that the ministry is completing the state's vision 2030, noting that any minister who assumes the ministry's term is committed to implementing the state's strategic plan for developing education, noting that in parallel, appropriate solutions and mechanisms are being developed to overcome the challenges facing the development of the educational process, which were at the forefront of student densities and the deficit in the number of teachers.
In response to questions about the issuance of the ministerial decision to organize the work of study rules, examinations and evaluation in all schools that teach and grant international, foreign or special (international) certificates within the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Minister confirmed the commitment of all schools licensed to teach international, foreign or special (international) curricula to teach Arabic language, religious education, social studies and religious education, explaining that international schools already teach Arabic language and studies, and the change that occurred is that they were included in the total; so that the student is interested in studying them, stressing that any student in Egypt must know the history of his country well and master his Arabic language "the mother tongue".
Regarding the challenge of weak reading skills among some students in the first grades, the Minister explained that this challenge is due to several obstacles facing the educational process, most notably the high density in classes, which resulted in the teacher's inability to perform his role in the desired and required manner, stressing that Egypt has the best teachers who have been trained and qualified at the highest level, explaining that the Ministry is working through a number of mechanisms to improve reading and students among students in the first grades.
Regarding the teacher deficit, the Minister confirmed that the deficit has been filled in all schools in the Republic by more than 90%, stressing that there is no deficit in teachers of basic subjects in any class at the level of the Republic's schools, explaining that the field reality is being monitored continuously and the percentage of any deficit is being monitored first hand and worked on to solve it immediately.
In response to questions about the mechanisms of "weekly evaluations", the Minister explained that all education systems in the world have an evaluation system, which is one of the factors that attract students to attend schools, stressing its importance in measuring learning outcomes periodically, noting that a platform is currently being developed to analyze these evaluations statistically on a daily basis, which will enable measuring learning outcomes in each class, which allows any problems in achievement to be addressed early.
In response to how to eliminate the phenomenon of "cheating in high school exams", the Minister indicated that there are approximately 2,000 committees for high school exams across the Republic, noting that the Ministry is currently working on a plan to reduce the number of examination committees and take measures to disrupt electronic cheating methods.
Regarding the teaching of the second foreign language, the Minister confirmed that the teaching of the second foreign language has not been cancelled, but rather has become a subject outside the total so that there is an opportunity to teach the first foreign language with a sufficient number of credit hours that allows students to master it. He stressed the existence of initiatives, agreements and international relations to enhance the quality of teaching the second foreign language, citing the French language that is taught as a first language in the schools of the national institutes, which have a long history in education, and the Egyptian private schools that teach French as a first language, numbering 53 schools. An agreement was also reached with the French side to expand the establishment of new schools that teach French as a first language and provide technical support from the French side.
In response to the application of the disciplinary regulations, the Minister confirmed that it aims to restore the prestige of the teacher and preserve the rights and duties of both the teacher and the student, pointing to the continuous communication with those concerned in the educational process, as extensive meetings, discussions and dialogues were held with school principals, teachers and educational administrations about the educational reality and finding appropriate solutions, noting that meetings were held with 50% of school principals in Egypt during the past three months, and decisions were made in cooperation with education leaders.
As for the law on practicing the profession, the Minister indicated that the Ministry is currently working on it, and it will be presented to Parliament soon.
Counselor Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek, Speaker of the Senate, thanked the Minister for presenting the Ministry's plan to develop the educational process and the efforts made, stressing the support and cooperation of the Council in the coming period, which requires the combined efforts of all parties and participation with every possible effort that contributes to enhancing the quality of the educational process.
The Speaker of the Council also directed that the requests and topics of discussion be referred to the Education and Scientific Research Committee of the Council to study them and prepare a report on them