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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 29 July - 4 August 1999 Issue No. 440
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Is the nightmare over?
By Shaden Shehab
Many educational experts, as well as parents and students, are satisfied with the Thanawiya 'Amma (secondary school certificate) results this year. The grades on average are back to 'normal', that is, none of the students got astronomical grades and, at the same time, the percentage of students passing the exams is the highest in 10 years. Also, the minimum marks required for admission to universities are expected to decline by at least three per cent from last year. Last year, students receiving 97 per cent could not get accepted into faculties of medicine because the minimum percentage required was 98 per cent.
Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin
Out of about 300,000 students enrolled in the third and final year of secondary school, 242,000 passed their exams. This year only 2.64 per cent of the students who passed achieved results of more than 95 per cent; whereas last year 20.33 per cent did. Also, not a single student got 100 per cent; while last year 3.8 per cent got 100 per cent or higher (for extra high-level courses).
Minister of Education Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin said at a press conference, "The results are good and the phenomenon of students taking 100 per cent or higher has disappeared. Grades are back to normal."
The highest grade this year was 99 per cent. Seventeen students got the highest grades, nine boys and eight girls; their marks ranged from 99 per cent to 96 per cent. For the first time, it was Bahaeddin who broke the news to them by telephone, a day before the results were announced nationally.
For many years, parents and students have regarded the Thanawiya 'Amma as a 'nightmare'. AThanawiya 'Amma student in a family has meant the declaration of a virtual state of emergency. Parents and children are in a constant state of panic, TV viewing is cut to a minimum, visitors are discouraged and bundles of money is spent on private tutoring. This was especially the case before 1994.
Before 1994, Thanawiya 'Amma students' results depended on one final examination at the end of their last school year. If a student failed in any of the courses, he or she had to re-do the exams of all the courses.
With the aim of upgrading secondary school education and giving students more than one chance, in June 1994 a new Thanawiya 'Amma system was introduced. The new system gave the student several chances to improve his or her grades and the secondary school certificate was awarded over two years rather than one.
In the second and third years of secondary school, the students were given two exams -- the first in May and the other in August -- with the student deciding which subjects he or she will sit for in May and which in August. Moreover, if a student who sat for the May exam in a certain subject wants a second chance in August, they will be given that chance. If a student wants to still improve his marks in some subjects he took in secondary II while he is in secondary III he can also do that.
At the time, Bahaeddin explained that, "It is not fair that a student's future be determined by one end-of-year examination. We had to change the system in order to produce students who do not merely commit lessons to memory to pass an examination, but who are able to think on their own." The curriculum was also amended. The bulk of the courses are spread over the two years, rather than concentrated in the last secondary school year.
The new system was implemented in the academic years of 1995/1996 and 1996/1997. It took effect for students enrolling in secondary II. Students of secondary III, however, went on in accordance with the old system and were given a chance to complete it until 1997. Thus, universities in these two academic years accepted students of two different Thanawiya 'Amma systems, requiring different grades for students enrolled under the two systems. However, the new system resulted in a large percentage of students receiving very high grades, some with marks exceeding 100 per cent. This led to a great increase in the number of students going to university and the minimum acceptance level for university entrance rose dramatically.
As a result, the cabinet in 1997 suggested the cancellation of the system for 'improving grades', a suggestion which parliament endorsed. Students are allowed to sit for a second exam in August only if they have failed the course, and if they pass on the second try, they will only obtain a 50 per cent grade. If the student fails the second exam, he or she will re-do the exams of all the courses. Moreover, if a student fails in the exams of more than two courses in the May exams, he or she will also have to re-do all the exams once again in the next academic year.
The just-ended academic year is the first year for the new system. Although the indications are positive, observers believe only time will tell whether the 'nightmare' is really over.
