Egypt's Supreme Council of Universities announced, on Tuesday, the timeframes for the new academic year, with the first semester to take place from 17 October 2020 until 21 January 2021. The council added that the second semester will be from 20 February 2021 to 10 June 2021. It also announced the schedules and measures to be taken in the new 2020-2021 academic year, due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The council agreed to conduct skill assessment tests for final year of secondary school (Thamaweyya Amma) students, which prepares them for entering colleges, to take place between 8 and 20 August. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar issued directives, during the enlistment process for students wishing to enrol at Egyptian universities, for the adherence to preventive measures against the coronavirus. The ministry will also apply a hybrid education system at Egypt's universities in the upcoming academic year, to include both in-person and distance learning. This aims to reduce the number of students physically attending classes, whilst also applying social distancing measures. The "Science Up" initiative was also tackled at the Council's meeting on Tuesday, as the initiative aims to build a strong scientific environment in Egypt. This comes in addition to linking scientific research with the industrial sector. The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research reported that about 446,528 seniors across 405 colleges are sitting this year's final exams across the country at 27 universities. It reported that about 19,252 final year students have adjourned their exams until next round, due to the ongoing health crisis.
