Foreign relations in general, and the Iran nuclear agreement in particular, dominated the airwaves last night, with every talking head save Henry Kissinger making the rounds. But the most surprising news from the talking heads was that the government could be bowing down to pressure over education reform.

Is the government really caving to public pressure on its education reform drive? After taking heat over the new education reform strategy, Education Minister Tarek Shawky apparently decided to postpone implementing reform plan for middle schools (grades 7-9) to FY2019-2020 instead of launching it in September. He tells Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi that K-6 classes in public schools and in the new Japanese schools will see changes in the fall. He said an assessments of the new strategy would be held in the summer of 2019 to gauge whether the system can be implemented nationwide (watch, runtime: 5:38).

Shawky dismiss the notion that the ministry was pressured to take this decision but acknowledged that the controversy arose due to a lack of understanding by the public. He reiterated that the strategy has been put forth after consultations with experts. He urged people to refrain from worrying about insignificant nooks and cracks and attempt to see the bigger picture of reform — something which had long been called for (watch, runtime: 14:38).

Background: The new primary school system aims to make it mandatory to teach subjects including STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in English at ht the middle school level. Primary school education in public schools will be taught in Arabic. The reforms build on the ministry’s drive to do away with rote memorization by Thanaweaya Amma (high school), as does its plan to do away with examinations for students below third grade. Readers should note that the reforms have no bearing on private and international schools.

Allow us to beat the drum a moment, please: The minister should not give up. The reforms appear sensible and very much in line with what members of the business community (to say nothing of hundreds of thousands of parents) have been saying for years. But cabinet as a whole needs to learn from Shawky’s experience: As in the past, the problem isn’t in the reform, it is in the fact that cabinet did nothing to sell it to the nation.

Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord choked the airwaves with political and economic analysts. Kol Youm’s Amr Adib spoke with former IMF consultant Fakhry El Fiky, who spoke on the risk and impact the decision would have on oil prices and how that would impact Egypt. A tumultous oil market leaves next year’s budget in a precarious situation, he says (watch, runtime: 39:28). Hona Al Asema’s Lamis Al Hadidi sat down with a slew of commentators and political analysts to discuss the ramifications of the move on international relations among Western powers and impact on the Middle East (watch, runtime: 5:55).

Talk on diplomacy continued with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s meeting with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni and the whole GERD issue. Adib added that the dispute with Ethiopia over the Nile makes relations with other Nile Basin countries like Uganda all the more important (watch, runtime: 5:12). He later called for awareness campaigns be made encouraging rationing water use (watch, runtime: 4:08). Ittihadeya spokesman Bassam Rady highlighted Uganda’s importance as another source of Nile water, noting that 15% of the river’s waters flow from the Lake Victoria (watch, runtime: 8:30). It was also covered on Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 3:32). Former Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasr Al Din Allam echoed Adib’s point. In an interview with Yahduth fi Masr, he noted Uganda’s political weight in Africa, which may help with political manoeuvring or pushing for an agreement with Nile basin countries.

He also noted the strategic importance of South Sudan and a transit point for river from Uganda, and a place where large amounts of Nile water heading to Egypt is lost (watch, runtime: 2:00).

Egypt’s debt levels and the budget deficit appear to be the two biggest concerns in the House of Representatives on the FY2018-19 budget, parliament spokesperson Salah Hassaballah tells Al Hayah A Youm (watch, runtime: 3:44). Just as last year. And the year before. And so on.