The General Secondary Education Certificate, known as thanaweya amma, underwent a major revamp in August of this year as part of an overhaul of Egypt’s education spearheaded by newly appointed Minister of Education Mohamed Abdel Latif. The minister shifted the grading system, eliminating subjects and introducing new ones that contribute to final grades for high school students. In the new grading system, first- and second-year high school students have only six subjects that count toward their final scores, a decrease from ten and eight subjects, respectively. Third-year high school students, or thanaweya amma students, also saw a change with just five subjects being graded instead of seven. Additionally, second foreign languages like German, French, and Spanish, as well as geology, psychology, and religious studies will be graded on a pass/fail basis, not affecting the overall grade. The reforms mainly impacted teachers, thousands of whom had their subjects excluded from the final grade calculation, hence reducing their chances of earning additional income from private tutoring. With the average monthly salary of a teacher in Egypt being EGP 7,750 (USD 157.6), teachers are struggling without the extra income of private tutoring, a…
