Precautionary measures including sterilisation and disinfection of exam rooms in schools will cost EGP 950m, according to Minister of Education Tarek Shawky.
The efforts form part of nationwide precautionary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Shawky said that 1.4 million students are set to take the final exams for the Thanaweya Amma and technical certificates over 20 days.
The minister’s comments came during a parliamentary Planning and Budgeting Committee meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Ministry of Education and Technical Education’s budget.
Shawky added that his ministry has requested EGP 132m in the draft budget for FY 2020/2021, of which the Ministry of Finance has approved allocations of only EGP109m. This is due to the financial burdens on the state, due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
In the meantime, Shawky said that the government is addressing possible education system scenarios for the new school year which is schedule to start in September 2020. Such forward planning is seen as especially important as the current health crisis is expected to last for several more months.
Shawky added that a positive effect of the current crisis is the push towards using electronic platforms in the educational process, adding that Egyptian Knowledge Bank recorded 80 million views.
Earlier in April, Shawky announced that final exams for technical certificates will be postponed to between 13 June and 19 July, with the final exam schedule to be announced on 15 May. Technical certificate students were supposed to begin their final practical exams on 9 May, with the final written exams on 16 May.
For the Thanaweya Amma exams, they will be held as scheduled on 7 June. The ministry said that the upcoming exams will be held with full consideration for health precautions to ensure student safety.
Schools have been closed since 14 March under a directive from President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, amid efforts to curb the ongoing coronavirus outbreak as infections passed 7,000 nationwide on Tuesday.
