CAIRO: As news mounts of a global influenza pandemic and the plague lurks on Egypt's borders with Libya, nothing can curb the mounting anxiety of more than 389,000 families - but for completely unrelated reasons. These are the families of the thanawiya amma students currently sitting for their final exams, apparently more feared than the plague itself. Egypt's national secondary school certificate exams are a source of anxiety for both students and their families. Parents stress the importance of the two-year program to their children from a young age, with phrases like: "Study so you can join a decent college, and, "These two years will determine your whole life, repeated to students ad nauseam. Before this year's thanawiya amma exam season began on June 13, Minister of Education Youssri El-Gamal said that all necessary measures were taken to ensure that there is not a repeat of what happened last year, when exams were leaked in several governorates and students complained of exceptionally difficult exams. So far, things seem to be moving smoothly. Security measures outside schools where exams are taking place have been tightened. No one is allowed on school grounds except for students sitting for the exam and the teacher monitoring them. The scene outside last Thursday's Physics exam was calmer than usual. Usually, students come out of this notoriously difficult exam in tears, but this year, the majority seemed pleased with their performance. "If you [studied] and practiced solving the sample problems then this exam should have been just fine. Physics is definitely a challenging subject but it [the exam] was easy to solve, said Hoda Abdel-Rahman, a thanawiya amma student. Parental guidance It's common to see parents gathered outside public schools during exam season, nervously pacing back and forth waiting for their children to finish. Households are in near lockdown weeks before as students revise for the exams, which more or else determine their university majors and, for many, their career paths. "Life literally stops at home: no television, no birthday parties and no one can come over to visit. You organize your life according to your children's exam schedule, said one mother. "No one comes to our home except private tutors, of course, who turn it into a tutoring center by bringing around 18 students with them, who you are forced to welcome, she added. It's difficult to figure out exactly why parents wait for their children outside - for more support or because they can't stand the pressure of not knowing how the exam went. When one mother asked her son how he did on the physics exam, he said, "It was fine, I think I did well; to which she quickly replied, "You must have messed up. How can you say that the physics exam was fine? A different high school experience Despite the traditional fear society instills in students from a young age, some students take it in stride and find time to enjoy their senior year. "I didn't opened a single book in March.I was planning our [high school] prom, said Amina Ismail, who attends a Catholic French school. "Thanawiya amma will always be difficult no matter what; and in September, we'll all get into university. I have to study and work hard but I don't have to kill myself doing it, there are other important things in life as well, said Ismail, who scored 88 percent in her first year of thanawiya amma. "Our private tutor explains the entire syllabus to us, tests us on it and reviews it with us - and this is for four or five subjects, so the time I have left is for me to give my mind and body a break or I'll burst, said Irene Mahfouz, who is in the same class as Ismail and got a 91 last year. In the making Last September, minister El-Gamal announced that the thanawiya amma system will be changed so that students' future does not depend solely on a single grade. The new system is slated to include two different curricula. The first includes core requirements whose grade will be based on a single exam all students will take at the end of the academic year. The second includes electives which students can choose according to their interests and to prepare them for the field they plan to major in during college. The final grade on these subjects will depend on a final exam at the students' own school, as well as an evaluation of their performance throughout the year. Students will be required to take standardized entry tests to determine their acceptance into their major of choice at university. "We are planning to start executing this new system on the graduating class of 2013, who will enter high school in 2010, said Farid Abdel Samei, media advisor at the ministry.
