We all know how far the Qubool platform for university majors has come, which is somewhat similar to the Coordination Office in sister Egypt, which has been in use in the land of the Nile for a long time. Through it, male and female students register their preferences for university majors suitable to their qualifications via offices spread across Egypt’s cities and governorates, if not all of them, and perhaps now it has become through a website, like the website in our country, thank God, which is the Qubool platform. I believe, praise be to God, that I was among the first to write about creating something similar in our country nearly 20 years ago, through our local print newspapers at that time. Therefore, we are proud of the Qubool platform for university admissions currently, through which a male or female student only needs to register their preferences via the website using their mobile phone, and does not need to go to the university or even enter the university’s website. This is a great achievement credited to the universities and, behind them, the Ministry of Education. This year, male and female students submitted their preferences from November 5 to July 18, while preference ranking was on June 24 last, and it continues until the writing of these lines in the last third of the current July. It processes the preferences of male and female graduates of general secondary education in our country according to the weighted averages of each student. The announcement of admission results is from July 19 to 21. However, this year, many male and female graduates of general secondary education and their parents noticed that the red flags regarding their children’s preferences have continued until the admission announcement date on the platform, represented by the low weighted average they obtained after calculating the general secondary school GPA, the general aptitude test score, and the achievement test score... In addition, very high percentages have been reached for theoretical majors, reaching 90% and above...!! Which had low demand in previous years, and they do not know the reason for the increase in those percentages for those majors...?!

Theoretical majors exceeded the 90% threshold...!!

As I mentioned, astonishment continues on the faces of male and female graduates of general secondary education and their parents from the jump in weighted averages for theoretical majors, knowing that demand for them has decreased over the past ten years if not before, because the labor market no longer needs many of those theoretical majors...! Some scientific majors such as medicine, engineering, cybersecurity, and other demanded majors in recent years have become popular, especially medicine and cybersecurity at the top of the priority choices for male and female students...!

Demanded majors (medicine with all its branches, engineering, cybersecurity, and others...!)

Male and female graduates of general secondary education have become more aware of the majors demanded by the labor market, or at least those with high demand for their bright career future, after the grace of God Almighty...! But those majors have become difficult for many of them to reach, no matter how high the grades male and female students achieve, approaching 99% and 100% in the general secondary certificate. However, as we and the students and their parents know, the GPA obtained by graduates is not everything; rather, it accounts for only 40% of the overall university admission percentage, and the other 60% is for the general aptitude test and achievement test, which has greatly affected the non-admission of many students. Even if they are admitted, they are directed to any undesirable majors that have no fertile ground in the labor market...!! Therefore, I and many interested educators believe that the opposite should be the case: 60% for the general secondary GPA, as it was before, and 40% for the general aptitude tests. By that procedure, hope will grow and students will breathe a sigh of relief at the possibility of being admitted to universities in demanded majors that the labor market still needs and that our country needs to this day, which are the majors mentioned earlier. In addition, it would appreciate the effort of students over 12 years in general education, while they have been excelling since their early school years. After graduating from high school, they are shocked by that condition regarding the weight of general aptitude and achievement tests, despite their multiple attempts at more than one version since the second year of secondary school. General aptitude and achievement tests begin in the third secondary year, in addition to the STEB English test (optional) for more opportunities for admission to demanded university majors needed by the labor market. Therefore, we hope, from the platform of Sabq newspaper, that the average of those multiple tests (general aptitude and achievement) be taken so that the weighted average of our sons and daughters increases, or we adopt the first proposal, which is that the high school GPA be 60% and the general aptitude and achievement tests be 40%. By that procedure, we guarantee, with God’s permission, the creation of many large admission opportunities for male and female graduates of general secondary education to enroll in top majors or those they desire. This is what we hope will become a visible reality. God is the guide to all good, glory be to Him...!