The beginning of the second half of the academic year was postponed for the second time, with the start of the spring term now starting on 8 March instead of 22 February, reports Reem Leila. The postponement is designed to help schools and universities across the country repair damage caused by student protests. Officials are also concerned about an early start of the academic year before the full restoration of security. According to an official statement, “the delay is needed in order to upgrade buildings and dormitories damaged by misguided student rioters. It will also give time for the completion of legal regulations aimed at ensuring the stability, security and safety of educational institutions.” Meanwhile, the government urged students to respect university regulations. Last week, interim President Adli Mansour amended the country's universities law to grant university presidents the right to expel students causing disorder inside university premises or damage to university property. This is the second time the authorities have postponed the start of the second term. The second semester of the current academic year was originally scheduled to begin on 8 February, before being postponed to 22 February. Earlier this month Health Minister Maha Al-Rabat announced that the term would be delayed due to an outbreak of swine flu across the country that has killed dozens of people in recent months. However, many people have expressed their dissatisfaction with the decisions, blaming the authorities for failing to restore order in universities across the country. According to Dahlia Hegazi, a professor of statistics at Cairo University, the postponement was meant as a way of getting tough on Muslim Brotherhood students who have been demonstrating at universities across the country since the ousting of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on 30 June last year. “Officials are still looking for these students, but they have not yet found them. The police want to arrest them in order to guarantee a peaceful semester,” Hegazi said. However, in her view the government was not acting wisely in postponing the spring semester. “Whenever the academic year begins, students will start protesting,” she said. Meanwhile, a group called Islamist Students against the Coup (ISAC) has called on students to resume their protests as soon as the upcoming semester begins in order to create what they have described as an atmosphere of chaos and instability. Minister of Higher Education Hossam Eissa said that the postponement was also due to the incompletion of maintenance work on university dormitories in which 15 per cent of the country's 1,587,323 university students reside. “There is an agreement between the Supreme University Council and a security company to provide security on university campuses. However, the company has informed the Council that it is not yet ready for the second semester and it has asked for a postponement,” Eissa said. For his part, Minister of Education Mahmoud Abul-Nasr denied statements that the postponement was due to swine flu. “The health minister did not ask the ministry for any postponement of the academic year,” he said. Abul-Nasr said that the ministry was providing all schools with the materials required for infection control, including disinfectants, detergents, and pharmaceuticals. There was also coordination between hospitals to transport patients to central hospitals in case of the need for intensive care. “This is being done in coordination with the health ministry. Any infected students or teachers will be provided with obligatory vacations until their full recovery,” Abul-Nasr said. Ahmed Helmi, an official spokesman to the ministry of education, said that the ministry had decided to cancel parts of the curriculum instead of compressing them. “The final year exams will now only cover the parts of the curriculum that have been taught according to the original schedule,” he said. The spokesman denied reports stating that the ministry would extend the second semester until the end of June. “A special committee has been formed to decide which parts of the curriculum will be cancelled in order not to affect the scientific content presented to the students. The important thing is that students do not suffer as a result of any gap between what they have studied this year and what they will need to study next year,” he said. Parents have also expressed worries about the possibility of their children not finishing the curriculum after a month off. Teachers might find the time very tight, or be unable to finish on time. Hala Hani, the mother of two school-aged children, said that “teachers won't be able to explain the curriculum properly to students. I hope the ministry is telling the truth about the cancelling of parts of the curriculum.” A state of confusion prevails among the parents of many students. “Everyone is scared. We don't know what will happen to our children. Each time they go to school or university we suffer as a result of worry,” said Rabab Al-Moqadem, the mother of three children, in response to reports of the postponement of the academic year for security reasons.
