The marathon of thanaweya amma (high school certificate) is still on in thousands of Egyptian households. The results of the second phase of applications to universities were unveiled on Tuesday; the third stage will begin soon. It is usually a season for writers to assess the education system in general, and thanaweya amma in particular. Samir Ragab stated that the absolute majority agree with what the Minister of High Education Hani Hilal said, namely that thanaweya amma is not an indication of the standard of students since most of those who scored over 80 per cent in thanaweya amma fail in their first year at university. This simply means that hundreds of thousands of students who pass this exam receive moderate education which does not probe their skills or improve them. "In all cases, the current plan to improve education will conclude in 2022. Would those still alive then see students who are better educated than today's students?" he wandered in the official daily Al-Gomhuriya. Refaat Fayyad considered the sudden and unjustified decision by the Supreme Council of Universities to accept thanaweya amma graduates in open education directly after their graduation from high school as a death certificate to university education in Egypt. That decision would allow students who get poor grades to join any university they want in open education, regardless of their levels and abilities. Fayyad explained that open education did not aim to provide places for thanaweya amma graduates who did not find places in public universities, that is why it put a condition that at least five years should pass before a thanaweya amma graduate be allowed to join open education. "No attendance is required of an open university student, thus the basics of the education formula, namely interaction between the student and the teacher, are absent. The student does not find a chance to improve his educational or personality skills. As a result, at present studying in open universities is merely for the sake of passing exams," he wrote in the official weekly Akhbar Al-Yom. Unfortunately, the cases of typhoid are on the increase because of contaminated water. As a result President Hosni Mubarak ordered a quick replacement of the water pipes network in the village of Al-Baradaa -- the village worst stricken by the disease. The editorial of the official daily Al-Ahram hailed the decision as further proof of the president's interest in each and every single village in Egypt, no matter how small. Mohamed Imbabi wrote that after the outbreak of typhoid in Al-Baradaa, Qalioubiya Governor Adli Hussein accused the Arab Contractors Company and the sub-contractors of using sub-standard sewage pipes. Meanwhile, the company denied the accusations of the governor. Therefore, as usual, whenever a problem emerges, responsible bodies exchange accusations and the key issue is lost. The victim, in the end, is the poor patients who are denied access to hospitals or are burdened with the high cost of treatment if they are able to get it, the writer added in Akhbar Al-Yom. Mohamed El-Shabbah wondered how the minister of housing could misinform the president that the water in Qanater villages -- including Al-Baradaa -- is not contaminated, and that the water networks are in good condition. "It is very annoying that all the people know that Qanater villages drink sewage water and that tens of villagers were admitted to hospitals as a result. Nevertheless, when the president enquired about the state of these villages, the officials told him that water is not contaminated and that networks are sound," he wrote in the independent daily Nahdet Masr. Hazem Abdel-Rahman wrote that typhoid is a blessing to Al-Baradaa, because it led to changing its old and dilapidated drinking water pipes with new ones. Abdel-Rahman hoped that blessing would spread to all villages in Egypt who suffer from the same problem. He questioned what people in Al-Baradaa, or elsewhere in Egypt should do, to establish their own clean drinking water or sewage networks at their expense. While he stated that constructing these networks is the responsibility of the central state, the local administration, the city council or the village council, he wondered what people could do to improve the performance of these bodies. Another cause for the problem is the increasing demand on water, which puts a strain on old water networks and causes water cuts, for days at times, in some villages. As a result, people resort to Ethiopian water pumps as a water supply. But, unfortunately, these pumps -- which are supposed to provide clean subterranean water -- are contaminated with sewage water. Thus, the writer ruled out that people of Al-Baradaa used water from the pumps because it is free, unlike clean pipe water which cost them money. "In fact, officials did not bother to inform villagers that the water will be turned off for a period of time so that they could make provisions. The painful reality is that local officials do not bother to show any respect to the humanity of the people," he added in the official daily Al-Ahram. The decision of the Arab health ministers to ban hajj (pilgrimage) and omra (minor pilgrimage) for children, the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases, to protect them against swine flu, is still controversial. Hazem Hashem wrote that people are confused about performing hajj and omra. Tourism companies, which are in this business, say that there is no harm in omra and hajj. Health experts warn against the risks. Men of religion are waiting to see which point of view will prevail, and people are holding out for a religious point of view or fatwa (religious decree) on the issue, he wrote in the independent weekly Sawt Al-Umma. The daily Al-Wafd, the mouthpiece of the Wafd opposition party stated on its front page that the minister of health said the incubation period of swine flu is one week. Then, it asked the minister whether his ministry has hotels, wooden rooms or even tents to quarantine the pilgrims for a week to ensure they are not infected with the disease. It also asked him why the ministry has so far refrained from taking a decision regarding banning the people from performing omra and hajj. "The government is responsible for taking that decision in order to protect the country, and spare us health and economic catastrophes," the newspaper read. Hanan Badawy questioned in the independent weekly Al-Osbou whether swine flu will hamper Muslims from performing hajj and omra this year, especially after the World Health Organisation declared that the disease has become uncontrollable. She expected that nothing would make Egyptians postpone performing hajj or omra for various reasons, mainly because so far there is no official fatwa to convince them to stay home. Religious institutions left the decision to the Ministry of Health; the clerics on various satellite channels avoided tackling the issue altogether, because they do not want to assume the responsibility of allowing or stopping millions from performing this important religious ritual. People are left in a state of bewilderment.
