Egypt denies unvaccinated university students access to first term exams

Egypt denies unvaccinated university students access to first term exams
Egyptian university students will be denied access to first term exams next month unless they can show proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative PCR test.
2 min read
27 December, 2021
Students at Egyptian universities will not be allowed to take exams without a vaccination or negative PCR [Getty]

CAIRO – Egypt’s Supreme Council of Universities decided on Sunday to prohibit students who had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 to access first term exams due to take place in universities next month, Egyptian media have reported.

Students who are unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons must submit a negative PCR test every three days, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm has reported.

On Sunday evening, the health ministry reported a total of 823 Covid-19 cases and 37 deaths in the country.

However these numbers are believed to be an underestimate because infected cases are not usually reported to the ministry.

Sources have told The New Arab that Egyptian authorities are not recording many Covid-19 deaths in order to avoid public panic.

Last month, Cairo uUiversity denied students access to midterm exams unless they were vaccinated or submitted a recent negative PCR test.

On 24 October, the Supreme Council of Universities announced that students in Egypt would not be allowed to enter university campuses unless they showed proof the they did not have coronavirus or had been vaccinated.

One month earlier, Minister of Higher Education Khalid Abdel-Ghaffar declared that only vaccinated students would be allowed to live in university dorms.

Egyptians are also not allowed to enter government-run institutions without showing proof of vaccination, according to a recent government decision.