Plans to revamp the country’s education system continued to capture the talking heads’ attention last night on an otherwise humdrum evening.

Education Minister Tarek Shawky quelled Amr Adib’s concerns about plans to teach subjects in English across public middle schools, which Adib thinks would prove to be too challenging for students. Students will be taught in both English and Arabic throughout elementary school to give them a solid linguistic foundation by the time they reach middle school, Shawky said. The new system will allow public schools to be on par with their private counterparts, the minister ambitiously claimed (watch, runtime: 18:37).

Shawky’s appearance came as the nation’s columnists whined that he’s moving too fast with the implementation of the K-12 education system. Al Ahram’s Salah Montaser argues the rollout should start only with the first year of kindergarten pending further discussion. Al Shorouk’s Ashraf El Barbary also took a potshot at the minister, saying curriculum reform should come at the same time as investment in infrastructure, the hiring of new teachers — and a driver to explain to parents why the reforms matter in the first place.

As for higher education, several international universities are expected to set up branches in Egypt by the end of next year, including Carleton University and the University of Prince Edward Island, both from Canada, according to Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar. If the House is quick enough to pass a draft law allowing foreign universities to set up shop in Egypt (which the Ismail Cabinet approved yesterday), the first phase of Toronto’s York University could open its doors as early as October 2018, Abdel Ghaffar told Masaa DMC’s Osama Kamal (watch, runtime: 8:35).

Meanwhile, the idea of integrating Al Azhar’s teachings with the public education system was the topic of discussion between MP Mohamed Abu Hamed and Al Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy member Mohamed Al Shahat on Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 42:22).

Last night’s edition of the CIB-sponsored Hona Al Shabab was dedicated entirely to fintech startups, which doubled the prize money to EGP 200k for first-place winner 7aweshly. YallaPay and Vapulus came in second and third place, respectively (watch, runtime: 3:15).

Also last night: The Supply Ministry’s decision to raise the price of rice purchased from the private sector to EGP 6,300 per tonne from EGP 6,100 per tonne (watch, runtime: 5:19); an Agriculture Ministry spokesman vehemently denied rumors that pesticide-contaminated watermelons are currently in the market (watch, runtime: 3:28); and the Prosecutor General’s investigation into last week’s flooding of New Cairo (watch, runtime: 7:21) and (watch, runtime: 8:36).