We sat down with a head of primary at a well-known Cairo international school — a 20-year veteran of both Egyptian national and international systems. Edited excerpts below.
On what changed most
"Attention spans. That's the one that stuck. Kids 7-10 today can focus on a single task for noticeably shorter windows than kids of the same age did pre-2020. We've had to restructure lessons around it."
On writing
"Handwriting is weaker, vocabulary is slightly narrower, and — surprisingly — enthusiasm for creative writing is higher than before. Kids who spent lockdown watching stories now want to write their own."
On maths
"The foundations gap from lockdown years is still showing up. Year 7 students today often need Year 4 multiplication refreshers. Parents who assume school has caught up are sometimes unpleasantly surprised."
On screens
"I'm not anti-screen. I'm anti-passive screen. The apps that have kids answering, drawing, solving — those have a place. The apps that have kids watching someone else do it don't."
On what parents can do
"Honestly? Read with them every night. Even at 12. Even at 14. The children whose parents still read with them are better at everything — not just language."