Egypt's higher committee tasked with managing the coronavirus crisis has decided to extend the mid-year vacation for one more week, a cabinet statement said on Saturday. The mid-year vacation was initially set for the period between 16 January and 20 February before being extended to 27 February. During the committee's meeting, another decision was also made to resume the second term of studies, and to conduct postponed examinations from the first term according to the yet-to-be announced schedules, in line with the regulations governing study in the two systems of both ministries of education and higher education. Minister of Education Tarik Shawky and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar would announce the details and the mechanism of conducting the first term's postponed exams, as well as the mechanism for resuming studies in the second term, the statement added. Earlier in December, the Egyptian cabinet postponed first-term exams at schools and universities to instead be held in-person after the end of the mid-year break in order to mitigate against the impact of a second wave of the COVID-19. At the time, the cabinet also ordered remaining classes in the first semester of the current academic year to take place only through an online system starting January. The decisions come as part of the government's strategy to mitigate against the repercussions of the spread of COVID-19, and in the interest of the health and safety of all members of the educational process, including students, faculty members and teachers, December's statement noted. On Friday, Egypt reported 609 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total infection tally to 172,602 since the outbreak began in February 2020.
