Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar has confirmed his ministry’s commitment to continue in-person study during the second semester of the current academic year.
Abdel Ghaffar noted that the second semester will take place while taking all precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The minister chaired a recent Supreme Council of Universities meeting, where it was confirmed that universities nationwide will keep the hybrid education system in place. This will ensure that face-to-face classes and online classes are combined, in order to reduce the number of students in classes.
He indicated that students in theoretical colleges are required to attend in-person classes two days per week, while students in practical colleges must attend in-person classes up to four days per week.
The Supreme Council of Universities signed a cooperation protocol with the National Academy for Training. The protocol aims to provide training programmes to develop the capacities of university staff and professors.
The Council has also reviewed the project which aims to establish a database for public universities. This will present all the data of projects, activities, and achievements carried out by universities in a central data bank.
It additionally reviewed the position of electronic test centres’ equipment, connectivity lines, and internet accessibility at all public universities nationwide. This comes as part of the national project to connect the public universities with informational infrastructure.
The Council has also approved the decision made by the Scholarships Executive Committee to drop the period that Egyptian students studying in China had to spend in Egypt from the period of study leave. This had been put in effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Council approved the continued work of the committee charged with putting alternatives that limit the number of Egyptian students travelling to study at non-accredited foreign universities.
It agreed on the list of recognised universities made by the Equations Committee at the Supreme Council of Universities. The list sets controls and conditions for the equivalence of foreign certificates, evaluating the scientific content of each university.
