President: Student parents free to choose this year’s education mode

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has given parents of school students the freedom to choose the mode that most befits their children in completing the current school year under the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, be it through physical attendance after the re-opening of schools or through distant learning via the platforms and online resources.
The president’s remarks came during his meeting Sunday with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and Education Minister Tarek Shawki, Presidency Spokesman Bassam Radi said, adding that the meeting was devoted to a review of plans and procedures for holding mid-year exams and the resumption of the current school year 2020/21, the spokesman said.
During the meeting, the president also called for strict observance of precautionary measures when resuming the study in schools.
In other directives, President Sisi called for such upgrading of the system of examinations for expatriate students as to realise the efficiency of the evaluation process and facilitate the holding of examinations through expanded use of automation and modern technology, Spokesman Radi said.
Following a review of the latest developments of the national project for upgrading education with all its central tracks, President Sisi gave directives for accelerating the steps to achieve the comprehensive modernisation of the education system.
In this regard, President Sisi called for further emphasis on the educational dimension as well as on physical and health qualification of students and upgrading of the teachers’ system, the spokesman said.
In a presentation during the meeting, Minister Shawki outlined the procedures for resuming the current school year, noting that Egypt has been among the world’s best countries in dealing with the coronavirus’s effect on the educational sector since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to the testimony of international educational institutions.
Also yesterday, the President called another meeting with PM Madbouli, Education Minister Shawki, Health Minister Hala Zayed, Agriculture Minister Sayyed el-Qaseer and the Head of the Armed Forces National Service Projects Authority, for a consideration efforts aimed at upgrading the school meal system, the spokesman said.
Following a review of the key aspects of the aspired upgrading of the system which involves some 23 million students nationwide, President Sisi gave directives for finalising the relevant studies with the aim of offering students such a meal that contains the integrated nutritional elements deemed necessary for students’ physical and intellectual growth.
A presidential directive in this connection called for full observance of food safety standards and specifications in partnership with private sector meal-makers of established expertise in order to ensure the system’s worthiness and sustainability, Spokesman Radi said.