The second day of the National Youth Conference — which we cover in today’s Speed Round, below — continued to capture the attention of the talking heads.

Education reforms will come to fruition next year: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s decision to make 2019 the ‘year of education’ reflects the state’s intention to focus its spending on an overhaul of the country’s education system next year, Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar told Masaa DMC’s Eman Al Hosary. Abdel Ghaffar noted that his ministry has already begun implementing a new strategy to encourage scientific research (watch, runtime: 8:32).

Education Ministry spokesman Ahmed Khairy gave Yahduth fi Masr’s Sherif Amer the lowdown on the new national education system and the government’s plans to overhaul the sector (watch, runtime: 2:29). Amer also briefly touched on the main highlights of El Sisi’s speech during the forum (watch, runtime: 6:11).

Population control is a crucial feature of reforming religious discourse: Al Azhar scholar Khaled El Gendy hailed El Sisi’s calls to rein in the country’s population boom, saying that misinterpretations of religious teachings have fuelled population growth. The drive to reform religious discourse will help to remedy the issue, El Gendy said on Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 21:48).

Hona Al Asema fill-in host Dina Zahra spent the majority of her evening offering color commentary on other segments of El Sisi’s speech. She paid particular attention to the president’s comments on the country’s railway and metro services, which she went out of her way to say are of subpar quality despite the increases in metro ticket prices (watch, runtime: 43:04).

Rep. Saeed Taeema ranted about the state of the country’s railways and metro. Egged on by a train derailment yesterday, Taeema lambasted the lack of accountability for every railway accident in Egypt that prevents the core issues behind these accidents from getting resolved (watch, runtime: 7:07).

PSA- Stay clear from meds containing valsartan, says Health Ministry: The Health Ministry issued a warning against blood pressure meds containing valsartan after impurities were detected in some packs. Doctors and medical experts weighed in on the issue on Hona Al Asema (watch, runtime: 23:22). The issue appears to be a global one.

Al Hayah fi Masr was off the air last night.