The airwaves were awash with coverage of the government’s plans for the second term of the academic year, with each of Education Minister Tarek Shawki and Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar blanketing last night’s talk shows to break down the plans. We have chapter and verse on the plans in Blackboard, below.

Balancing educational continuity with fair assessments: The decisions laid out in the plan, including the resumption of classes and how exams will be administered, are designed to give students the best education possible while assessing them as fairly as possible, all things considered, Shawki told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi. Although in-person exams do run the risk of spreading covid-19, last year’s experiment with exams administered entirely online had mixed results, with some students abusing the system and others feeling like they were not able to put their best foot forward, he said (watch, runtime: 26:57).

Shawki had similar conversations with each of Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 5:03), El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 25:01), and Ala Mas'ouleety's Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 25:01).

Universities and other higher education institutions are largely moving ahead as normal, and students will be examined on their full curricula with no content expected to be removed, Abdel Ghaffar told Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 3:37). Students have the right to decide to postpone their exams, or re-take the school year if they don’t think they can do their best in the current circumstances, he told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 21:41)

The government is prepared to handle several scenarios that could unfold as the year moves ahead, with instructions from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to take strict precautionary measures to protect students’ health, Ittihadiya spokesperson Bassam Rady told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal (watch, runtime: 10:17).

Egypt has proven its ability to make good on its debt payments and the economy has been able to withstand major shocks, while registering one of the highest GDP growth rates globally last year despite the pandemic, Banque du Caire’s Tarek Fayed told Ala Mas'ouleety's Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 27:07).

WATCH THIS SPACE- There’s tension brewing down south at the border between Sudan and Ethiopia, after each country accused the other’s forces of crossing over. Sudan sees a threat in Ethiopia’s alleged move to transfer heavy weaponry to the border, while Ethiopia has been on guard since Sudan dispatched army forces, Sudanese newspaper Al Tayyar’s editor-in-chief Osama Mirghani told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 5:54).