Minister of Education Tarek Shawki told a press conference this week that 78.6 per cent of Thanaweya Amma students had passed their exams, and 37 per cent scored higher than 90 per cent overall.
This year’s pass rate is the highest in three years, more than four per cent up on last year’s pass rate of 74.3 per cent. The standardised nationwide exam for grade 12 students determines which faculty students can join.
In January 2017 a booklet system was introduced. Students were required to answer in the booklet in which the questions were printed rather than on separate sheets, reducing errors in the marking process and eliminating exams leaks.
Shawki did not seem overly happy with the high number of students scoring well. “The grades do not adequately reflect the students’ real abilities but are a result of their becoming expert in sitting exams as a result of private lessons,” he said.
“Experienced private teachers can provide students with predicted questions. Nineteen per cent of the 600,000 students in grade 12 got between 90 and 95 per cent compared to 10 per cent last year.”
He argued the results of students in grade 10 — the first to complete a year under the new education system — is more indicative of the examinees’ real abilities. The new system uses computerised open book exams which test the students’ understanding of the subject rather than the ability to memorise.
Shawki said the increased number of Thanaweya Amma students with high marks will create pressures on top faculties such as medicine, engineering and political science. The most popular faculties will increase their entrance requirements, with faculties of medicine expected to demand between 98.5 and 99.3 per cent marks from aspiring students.
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has meanwhile announced that students can begin applying to universities through the Coordination Office of the Ministry of Higher Education on 20 July. The office publishes a list of colleges and institutes and the minimum examination results required for each.
Short link: