CAIRO: The new thanawiya amma (general secondary education certificate) system will go into effect starting the academic year 2011/2012 instead of 2010, the date previously announced by the Ministry of Education. "The previous date was only a suggestion and the ministry decided to move it one year, a senior official at the Ministry of Education told Daily News Egypt speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Minister of Education Youssry El-Gamal announced last year that the new system will be applied in 2010 according to the recommendations of the national conference for developing secondary education. The proposed system, pending the approval of the Higher Council of Education, the prime minister and the People's Assembly, will make thanawiya amma a one-year - instead of a two-year - certificate. "There will be no differences in the old curriculums under the new system except in advanced scientific courses; the only aim is to reduce the burdens on the families, he said. Thanawiya amma is known for being a financial and emotional burden on families, with customary private tutoring eating up family incomes. Acceptance in public universities depends on students' grades in these two years. According to the ministry source, comprehensive evaluation will be applied on first-year secondary students starting next academic year. Under the comprehensive evaluation system students will take several oral and written exams. Evaluation of assignments and activities constitute 50 percent of the overall grade. Success in comprehensive evaluation will be a fundamental requirement for students to enter the final exam on the third year. Exams will be limited to Arabic, English and civil education, which will constitute the other 50 percent. Critics had said that such evaluations would open the door for school corruption by giving teachers the opportunity to decide 50 percent of students' grades. Critics were also skeptical about how this system would be applied in overcrowded schools. The new system will also extend the validity of the certificate to five years to allow the students the opportunity to work before joining universities. "The biggest challenge in applying the new system is the teachers who use the conventional teaching methods which depends on memorization, which produces a graduate who lacks a distinguished individual character, El-Gamal told independent daily Al-Dostour. "The initial results of applying a comprehensive evaluation system on primary level students were not satisfying because the teachers did not have good understanding of the system, but they improved later, he added. El-Gamal said that the second challenge was the grading system, which is rejected by parents because it does not depend on numbers and does not allow them to monitor their children's academic progress that will qualify them to enter top colleges. "Comprehensive evaluation system can be applied in high density classrooms; for example, India applied it in classrooms that have more than 100 student so it isn't a matter of financial capabilities, but about convincing teachers and parents, he said.
