Ministry of Education set temporary timetable for classes, exam

The Ministry of Education set a temporary schedule for National University Entrance Exam of grade 12 to July 14-17. According to a notice posted on all sub cities of the City Administration, the ministry has programmed the schedule hoping that normal classes would resume by June 7, 2020.
On March 16, 2020 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered to close all schools across the country and for university students to remain where they are deterring mobility for two weeks for fear that the virus will spread.
And on March 27, 2020 the government decides to extend the closure for two more weeks and students from higher education to go back to their home, while the duration of school closures remains uncertain.
Although, the ministry has set the schedule hoping that the government could contain the spread of the virus as soon as possible. For grade 1- 11, the ministry has scheduled to start school before May 17 and to continue up to the end of June. The ministry has differentiated different subjects which should be focused to all grade starting from grade one up to grade 12 to finish the academic year as soon as possible.
At the beginning of current academic year the ministry was planning to conduct the national entrance exam from June 1 up to June 3. Moreover the printing of exam materials, which is done at Berhanena Selam Printing Enterprise, is still put on hold.
According to Zelalem Mulatu, Addis Ababa Education Bureau Head, the plan may not be feasible unless the government removed the state of emergency and control the spread of the virus.
Ethiopia has around 20 million pupils in Ethiopian schools and nearly a million in the 50 public universities and more than 250 private academic institutions, all of which represent high potential transmission sites.
The Ministry also announced that private schools should keep paying their employees and also negotiate with parents of students on reduced tuition fees.
As the ministry suggested private schools should cooperate with parents in different options including giving time to parents who can’t afford to pay the monthly payment on time because of Covid 19 and to cancel for those who can’t afford at all; however schools should not stop paying monthly fee to their employees.
Ministry of Education has announced that parents of private school students should only pay 75 to 50 percent of their monthly payment.
The Ministry of Science and Higher Education that is responsible for Universities across the country announced that it is considering making instructional materials available online for students.
Dechasa Gurme, Communication director of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education said “if things get back to normal and if the government announces that students can go back to their schools in the coming one month, students may go to their particular university but if this cannot happen, students may be obliged to start their education in the coming year.”
Ministry of Science and Higher Education and ethio telecom are working to start giving online educational courses to postgraduate students without internet charge.

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