According to the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram last month, Egypt’s Ministry of Education announced that mass protests that took place on January 25 and June 30 will be removed from the high school curriculum. The omission was meant to be implemented starting 2017/2018, after the history exam included the question, “What if El-Sisi never gave the 30th June speech?”
The decision caused an outrage among parliament members and on social media as the two revolutions presented a major turning point in Egypt’s history and current ruling regime. Member of the Committee on the Modification of the History Curriculum, Gamal Shakra, stated that the suspended history book contained information about First and Second World Wars as well as Egypt’s war with Israel.
The decision to omit two major events that shaped our lives was due to the lack of historical documents and testimonies by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, the Cabinet, and other state authorities. General Director of high school exams and Head of the High Education sector, Reda Hegazy, stated that the decision has been reconsidered and the two revolutions will remain as part of high school student’s history curriculum. Allegedly, the printing of new books has been suspended for the time being.
