CAIRO - The second 2010/11 academic term, which started two, and in some cases, three weeks later than scheduled owing to the outbreak of the January 25 revolution, has witnessed a great commotion on the part of students. In schools and universities there has been a demand to curtail the syllabi in order to be consistent with the shortened term. Demonstrations on some university campuses demanding the removal of deans and presidents have also led to irregular performance in lecture rooms putting pressure on the students' study timetable. But the major problem has been with grades eleven and twelve of secondary school education, forming together what is termed in Arabic Thanawiya Amma, in which school-leavers are qualified to enter higher education. These two grades are not divided into terms but run for a whole academic year with a final year exam at the end of each grade. The heated events of the revolution have kept millions of students across the nation preoccupied whether as direct participants in, or as close observers of, unprecedented action on the ground. Once these students had to resume their school attendance, they discovered that they had a lot of catching up to do. The Thanawiya Amma has for years put psychological pressure on students, parents and the Ministry of Education because of the media fanfare surrounding the end-of-year exams and the fervent race to join colleges, especially given the high number of graduates and the relatively limited places in Government-run universities. Thanawiya Amma students started the second term with protests calling for the postponement of the exams for at least a month, coupled with an exam schedule that observes a two- to three-day interval between each subject, and questions that cope with the standard of average students. Although Ahmed Gamal Eddin, the Education Minister in the caretaker Sharaf Government, has actually endorsed an exam timetable that responds to students' demands, he was unequivocal about the Ministry's commitment to the established date of June 11 as the start of the final exams. According to Kamal el-Esseli, an eleventh grade student, the exams are expected to be easy this year because in his opinion the possible revolt of students would be greatly feared. Yasmin Hosni, a year older than el-Esseli, was however reluctant to lose parts of the syllabi that have been cancelled because they were already studied at the beginning of the year. Although Yasmin is set to graduate from school this year she hopes, like millions of Egyptians, that qualitative change will be effected in future to the syllabi and in the teaching methods per se. Schoolteachers have actually supported students in their claims for exams that really test their abilities, taking into consideration this year's extraordinary circumstances of the revolution. Adel el-Gohari, a German language teacher, suggested to Radio and TV Arabic magazine that some limited sections of the examination paper should be directed at outstanding students only, since much time had been lost during the first few weeks of the revolution. Many students he said were either in Tahrir Square or on the streets as members of vigilante groups that protected homes and lives in the absence of police, the ensuing escape of convicts and the prevalence of thugs. In the opinion of Hani Darwish, an educational expert of the Ministry's Exams Centre, at least l6 per cent of each exam sheet has to test outstanding mental faculties. As he said the ultimate aim of any exam is to distinguish between different skills acquired by students on a given topic. He explained that questions apply to certain specifications in compliance with targets of the educational process, the material being explained in class and the relative significance of each part of a syllabus. He drew attention to the fact that teachers have a role to play in approaching curricula in ways challenging to the students' understanding and analytical capabilities. “Unless teaching methodology corresponds to pedagogical aims, students will eventually consider final-year exams as difficult and above their standard.” His advice to students, especially those that are on the threshold of higher education, is to train themselves on different study methods other than mere memorisation instead of complaining about 'difficult' tests.
