The Egyptian government has announced a modification to the power outage plan for accommodating the needs of students during the upcoming mid-year tests. Starting Wednesday, the power cuts will be limited to the morning hours, according to a statement released by the cabinet on Tuesday. The revised plan will entail daily power outages between 11 am and 5 pm, with each district experiencing a two-hour blackout.
The decision to amend the power outage plan was made in response to numerous requests from both parliament members and citizens, as stated by Mohamed El-Hommosani, the cabinet spokesperson. With mid-year exams scheduled to take place from 9 to 25 January across various education levels, the government aims to ensure that students have uninterrupted access to electricity during their examinations. Following the exams, a break will commence on 27 January and conclude on 8 February.
This recent adjustment comes after the Egyptian government previously extended the duration of daily power cuts in October. The extension was a response to increased gas consumption resulting from high temperatures coinciding with declining gas imports. Although the cabinet did not specify the duration of power cuts at that time, many citizens took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with longer-than-usual blackouts.
The government initiated a nationwide load-shedding program in mid-July to alleviate the strain on the country’s gas network caused by rising temperatures and subsequent higher air conditioning consumption. This program has been implemented to manage the growing electricity demand, ensuring a more balanced distribution of power resources.
