Hope you are keeping safe and enjoying your summer. Kindly see below the latest edition of country updates across the MENA to keep UK universities updated on latest news regarding education in the region.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or require additional information.

Bahrain: The Ministry of Education still maintain that term will start as scheduled mid-September.

Egypt: The new academic year 2020-2021 will begin on Saturday 17 October 2020 and end on Thursday 24 June 2021.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom has lifted the COVID-19 curfew in the Kingdom across the country. International flights to and from the country remain suspended until further notice.

Kuwait: The Ministry of Higher Education hasn’t announced the plans for scholarship students. Grade 12 students are currently studying online and are awaiting the ministry’s release of exams dates.

UAE: Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has released an update that will allow schools re-open in September. When schools re-open, students should remain in a designated classroom – with a 1.5m distance per student – while teachers rotate instead.

Visas and Immigration

UK visa services have now resumed across all visa application centres in the Gulf. Appointments are currently limited and Priority and Super Priority Services are not yet available, but services and appointment availability are being kept under regular review. Our current service standard for all visit and Tier 4 student visas is 15 working days. UKVI is now (temporarily) issuing T4 students with a 90 day vignette to travel and collect their BRP in the UK, instead of the usual 30 day vignette. If due to travel restrictions your 30 day vignette expired before you were able to use it, UKVI will replace this with a new 90 day vignette free of charge.

More information can be found here: https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/en

Travel advice

For travel advice, please visit https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. We encourage institutions who are considering travelling to sign up for alerts. We are also keeping up to date with local government websites for any updates and restrictions, so kindly feel free to contact us if you need any information and we will refer you to the relevant websites.

IELTS

IELTS tests have gradually started resuming with health and safety precautions. For latest updates on test availability, please visit: https://www.ielts.org/news/2020/covid19-information-for-our-global-test-taker-community.

IELTS Counselling service has been launched to help students achieve the test they require. IELTS counselling is a free service from the British Council, aiming to help test-takers achieve the scores they need through one on one, on-going virtual sessions. The IELTS Counselling services is currently available in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

What to expect from the British Council IELTS Counselling service? 

An English level check for all four skills, composed of:

• An online English reading and listening diagnostic test A writing and speaking diagnostic test with a British Council teacher Detailed feedback on your writing and speaking tests performance from a British Council teacher
• A personalised tailor-made Learning Plan from your IELTS counsellor30-minute regular check-in calls with your personal counsellor to follow up on progress and provide additional information
• Further assistance and guidance with your IELTS Exam booking and results collection.

For more information visit https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/exam/ielts/prepare/counselling-service 

IELTS Indicator, on the other hand, is an online test that can be taken from home. The test includes four skills – Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Performance will be marked by examiners and results will be ready within seven days. The Academic test is available for a limited time while IELTS testing is currently suspended due to COVID-19. Educational providers can use IELTS Indicator to help them measure the English language ability of future students while IELTS testing is suspended. 

The IELTS Indicator Academic test occurs once a week. For information on test availability please visit www.ieltsindicator.com

More information can be found on British Council websites as well as IELTS.Org

For more MENA updates, webinars, market insights and other IES services, please go to your alerts settings and select updates from MENA. If you have any feedback or require any additional information, please contact me on dina.kanan@ae.britishcouncil.org

Thank you and stay safe

Dina Kanan

UAE Manager, International Education Services

BAHRAIN:

The Ministry of Education still maintain that term will start as scheduled mid- September, and that they’ll review the situation regarding if it will be online or face-to-face learning in response to the health updates in the country. They are prepared to take all needed measures, should the students be going back to schools.

https://www.newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/64785.html

Contact Information

For more information about Bahrain, please contact Kawthar AlArab, Projects Manager, Bahrain  Kawthar.AlArab@britishcouncil.org.bh

EGYPT:

Schools & Universities

The Minister of Education chairs the Supreme Council for Pre-University Education meeting to discuss the 2020-2021 academic year plan. The Council agreed that the study begins in the new academic year 2020-2021, on Saturday, 17 October 2020, and end on Thursday, 24 June 2021, provided that the mid-year vacation begins on Saturday, February 6, 2021 and will continue until Thursday February 18, 2021 (for a period of 15 days).

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tariq Shawqi, said that setting the date for the start of the new academic year 2020-2021 came as a result of the conditions of the spread of the Corona virus pandemic, noting that the form and system of study in the new year is currently under study and will be announced upon its completion. The Minister of Education indicated that, all possibilities are presented in the form of study for the new academic year, during which dependence will be placed on using modern technology in the learning process, and taking advantage of the educational platforms that the Ministry has launched for our students since the spread of the Corona pandemic. He explained that the secondary stage in the coming year will benefit from the presence of the tablet (beginning from the first to the third secondary), and the evaluation system will be in the modified system so that the exam is at the same level of difficulty and not uniform in the form of questions, in line with the Ministry’s vision to measure levels of understanding and achievement as well Dealing with fraud phenomenon

The Minister of Education revealed some features of the high school exam for the next year 2020-2021, whereby students are divided in each subject into multiple groups, and the electronic exam is performed for each group separately and at different times, and in the "open book" system

"Open book" is equal in degree of difficulty, which guarantees the principle of equal opportunities. Dr. Tariq Shawky pointed out that the new education system 2.0 (which is applied to kindergarten classes until the third primary grade), and the use of modern technology in the preparatory and secondary levels as well as combined education, are future systems and are not linked to the spread of the Corona virus only and this will be generalized in the coming years To overcome the problems that face the educational process, including (numerical density, teacher impotence). The meeting touched on the talk about teacher training, where Dr. Tariq Shawky, Minister of Education, stressed that the Ministry spared no effort in providing educational programs for teachers, whether teachers of the new system 2.0 or teachers of preparatory and secondary levels, noting that electronic training programs will be provided for teachers during the period Coming within the framework of the entire system development plan.

Contact Information

For more information about Egypt, please contact Sahar Khamis, Head of Education Programmes, Egypt Sahar.khamis@britishcouncil.org.eg

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

The Ministry of Education announced that there’s 3 upcoming scenarios for resuming in-class education for schools, a full normal resumption, a hybrid 50/50 option, and lastly fully online resumption. The 3 scenarios are mainly dependent on the location of the school, which will be announced prior to the actual start of the education on 30^th of Aug.

Also earlier, the Minister of Education, HE Hamad Al Sheikh announced that from now on, the online option will be a key and strategic option in the future of Saudi education, outlining a clear shift in visions of the Saudi government towards distance learning education.

Contact Information

For more information and insights about the situation in KSA, please contact Rizwan Safdar, Project Manager, KSA (Rizwan.Safdar@sa.britishcouncil.org)

KUWAIT:

Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Saud Al-Harbi submitted to the Council of Ministers Thursday his report on the ‘fate’ of the academic year based on opinions presented by the ministry’s sectors in public and private education. Al-Harbi announced the details of his plan at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, including a decision to end the scholastic year for all levels except the twelfth, and students move from kindergarten to the eleventh grade to the next grade. 12^th grade students paper exams will be cancelled and students will be evaluated by special mechanism to pass the year.

Kuwait University decided to resume the academic year 2019-2020 online on 9 August.

The private education department of the Ministry of Education will meet this week to discuss the mechanism to implement the ministry’s decision that education will be online in both government and private schools for the coming academic year. Ongoing discussions between private schools and the ministry of education about the issues of tuition fees. The ministry wants private schools to reduce their tuition fees as online teaching does not involve the same costs as is the case with traditional teaching where school premises is used. However, private schools are pushing back on this . One of the options is for private schools to reduce the tuition fees in return of the government reducing taxes imposed on the these schools.

Scholarship plan is suspended till grade 12 receive the results of their final exams by the beginning of October 2020.

Contact Information

For more information and insights about the situation in Kuwait, please contact Rasha Osman, Project Manager, Higher Education ((Rasha.Osman@britishcouncil.org)

UAE:

Schools and universities across Dubai will be allowed to operate from the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, provided that they comply with health and safety protocols, according to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

Complete article can be found here: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/education/448547-khda-says-dubai-schools-to-operate-from-start-of-2020-2021-year

Other insights (Media)

Revealed: Dubai private schools re-opening protocols issued by government

https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/revealed-dubai-private-schools-re-opening-protocols-issued-by-government-1.72429767

Strategic Affairs Council discusses latest developments in private education; smart services and progress of Dubai Paperless Strategy

http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302856879

Back to School: New Abu Dhabi guidelines announed

https://whatson.ae/2020/07/back-to-school-new-abu-dhabi-guidelines-announced/

Contact Information

For more information, please contact Dina Kanan, UAE Manager, International Education Services (dina.kanan@ae.britishcouncil.org)