Tarek Shawqi, Egypt's minister of Education
Egypt’s Minister of Education Tarek Shawki said on Tuesday that the success rate among Egypt's Thanaweya Amma students in the academic year 2020/21 is 74 percent.
"This is much lower than in the previous academic year, which stood at 81.5 percent," Shawki announced.
In a press conference that aired on state TV, Shawki announced the names of the top-ranking students in the final exams for Thanaweya Amma, which is Egypt’s national high school diploma.
Students in all the three branches of Thanaweya Amma can view their grades online at 6pm today by visiting the link https://g12.emis.gov.eg, Shawki said.
The success rate for students is 76 percent in the science branch, 74 percent in the mathematics branch and 70 percent in the literature branch, Shawki said.
The grades of students this year are significantly lower than previous years, the minister said, which also lowers the minimum GPA requirement for university admission.
No student obtained the perfect 100 percent score this year in all subjects, Shawki said, noting that 16,000 students scored a GPA of more than 90 percent.
Last year, 39 students received a score of 100 percent.
Shawki affirmed that this year’s low grades would not affect students’ chances to join their desired universities.
The minister said that this year’s exams were “the first real tests to measure the levels of understanding, application and analysis,” following a shift away from the culture of memorising for exams.
All students who have cheated in the exams were punished and 582 students were referred to the public prosecution in this regard, Shawki added.
Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said at the conference that the minimum grades required for admission to first stage faculties are 88.4 percent for the science branch, 80 percent for the mathematics branch and 65 percent for the literature branch.
However, he has not yet announced the grades required for each faculty.
Student registration for universities will start on 21 August and will be open for five days, Abdel-Ghaffar said, noting that Egypt has constructed numerous universities over the past decade to secure seats for more students.
According to Abdel-Ghaffar, the country has established 80 educational institutions during the past seven years, which is equivalent to what had been established during the previous 50 years.
Egyptian universities that are prepared to receive students for 2021/2022 include 27 public universities, 30 private and non-profit universities, three technological universities and four educational institutions hosting branches of international universities, Abdel-Ghaffar said.
Roughly 650,000 high school students took the Thanaweya Amma exams this year.
Before the start of the school year, each Thanaweya student chooses one of the three branches of science, mathematics and literature.
Scores in the competitive nationwide exams determine which university and faculty students can attend, if any. Admission to public universities is divided into four stages, the first of which is reserved for top scoring students seeking admission into what are known as “top faculties.”
These faculties include medicine, dentistry and pharmacy for the science branch, economics and political science, Alsun (languages) and media for the literature branch, and engineering for the mathematics section.
Thanaweya Amma exams have been taking place under extraordinary conditions ever since the coronavirus hit the country early last year.
This includes requiring students, exam supervisors and all school staff to follow precautionary measures including wearing facemasks, having their own sanitisers and maintaining social distancing.
Short link: