Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Monday said that the government will expand its online education system in order to prevent overcrowding at university campuses and schools amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
During a meeting with Minister of Education Tarek Shawky, Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghafar, and Minister of Telecommunications Amro Talaat, Madbouly said that the government will establish solid technological infrastructure to develop the country’s online education system during the academic year 2020/21.
Madbouly added that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asked for internet capacity to be increased so that the online education system’s contents and database can be saved.
Talaat, meanwhile, asserted that the Ministry of Telecommunications is making great efforts to increase internet capacity and to improve internet services in Egypt.
For his part, Shawky presented several tools to develop the online education system, including an e-library containing interactive digital curricula allocated to grades KG1 to G12.
Shawky added that Ministry of Education is preparing to broadcast live lessons for grades G-9 to G-12.
Shawky discussed a proposal for merging the “face to face” education and “online education” systems in the new academic year, with the aim of helping students obtain knowledge and skills through a “hybrid education” system.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
