House of Representatives gives final approval to draft law amending certain provisions of Education Law

Middle East

08-07-2025

CAIRO, July 8 (MENA) - The House of Representatives, in a plenary session held Tuesday under House Speaker Hanafi el-Gebali finally approval a draft law submitted by the government to amend certain provisions of the Education Law No. 139 of 1981.
The parliament had approved the articles of the draft law during Monday's session following the presentation of a report by MP Sami Hashem, Chairman of the House Education and Scientific Research Committee.
The report came from the joint committee of the Education and Scientific Research Committee, along with the Budget and Planning Committee and the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee.
MP Sami Hashem said the draft law does not affect the current General Secondary Education (Thanaweya Amma) system, which will remain unchanged, explaining that the goal is to add the 'Egyptian Baccalaureate' as an optional and free three-year system alongside the Thanaweya Amma, rather than replacing it.
Hashem further clarified that the draft law offers students a choice between two systems of equal value and outcomes. Both the Thanaweya Amma and the Egyptian Baccalaureate qualify students to obtain a certificate granting access to universities, with no discrimination between them; the choice is left entirely to students and their guardians.
According to the joint committee's report, Egypt's Sustainable Development Strategy (Vision 2030) outlines strategic objectives for education, aiming to provide education to all students without discrimination (accessibility), improve the quality of the education system and its outputs in line with global standards, and boost the competitiveness of education.
The parliamentary report emphasized that quantitative expansion of educational system outputs was necessary to achieve its objectives, but insufficient on its own, thus requiring improving the quality of these outputs, especially given that practical experience showing the gap between supply and demand in the labor market is largely qualitative rather than quantitative. Therefore, enhancing the quality of education in all its elements - including developing secondary education curricula and exam methods - has become urgent and essential. The report noted that this necessitates introducing a new system to replace the one applied for nearly 30 years; a very long time given the rapid and remarkable evolution in modern education methods and the need to build personalities capable of facing contemporary challenges.
The parliamentary report also said the Egyptian government places significant importance on the education sector, particularly the General Secondary stage. The new system aligns with advanced global education systems. The draft law is described as a genuine and deep reform step in the education system, reflecting the government's commitment to developing education in a way that serves the interests of students and Egyptian families, reduces burdens on them and improves the quality and competitiveness of education to keep pace with global standards. (MENA)
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