The announcement of exam results for the second and third years of the 2009/10 academic year of high school has been approved by Minister of Education Ahmed Zaki Badr. High school in Egypt lasts three years, the last two years of which are known as thanaweya amma. The second year at high school is termed the "first stage", and the third year is referred to as the "second stage" of thanaweya amma. Students may choose between three broad subject divisions: literary, science, and mathematics. The pass rate for female students for the first stage this year was 75.8 percent, while males scored 68.1 percent. The pass rate for first-stage-students studying sciences was 75 percent, compared with 67 percent for literary studies. However for the second stage, the pass rate reached just 50.5 percent overall. Exam results for both years determine whether students will go on to university and what job opportunities will be available to them. Badr phoned the top achievers to offer his congratulations. Top of the list of second-stage students who excelled this year was Samah Mustafa Abdel Abdel Azim (science section) from Sadat Secondary School for Girls in Sharqiya. Iman Mustafa Ahmed, from Minya Secondary School for Girls topped the list of literary students. Omar Gamal from Mansoura Experimental School topped the list of mathematics students, and Asmaa Essam Mohamed, a blind student from el-Nour School in Suez, came first among students with special needs. Translated from the English Edition.
