Egypt's Minister of Education Tarek Shawky announced Sunday that the new school year will start 17 October in coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education. According to a statement issued by the cabinet, Prime Minister Mostafa Mabdouli revised with the ministers of education and higher education plans for the school year 2020-2021, and academic year 2020-2021, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "In the upcoming period, we will have a huge challenge due to the number of students, as we have 23 million students we classified to stages: the first stage from KG1 till primary 3rd grade; the second stage from 4th to 6th grade; the third stage from 1st preparatory grade till the 3rd preparatory grade; and the fourth stage being the secondary stage," said Minister of Education Tarek Shawky.
He added that Egypt has already electronic infrastructure in the second stage. The full plan for the upcoming school year be revealed in September, with the prime minister checking the plan 20 August.
Schools and universities suspended in-person classes in March in the wake of the pandemic. Most students have remained at home since, with assignments given online, although pupils taking their final high school exams did so in person in June and July.
