Shaping the Future of Learning
With the global economy becoming increasingly knowledge-based, the education and skills of a country’s people are more important than ever in securing its future. Investments in education provide a catalyst for economic growth, job creation, and increased social mobility.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s declaration that 2019 would be the year of education followed the government’s announcement in 2018 of a major education overhaul programme. The year 2019 thus saw a number of initiatives put in place, most of which were aimed at increasing uptake of technology in classrooms and ultimately creating a dramatic cultural shift in the way society views education. Many of these reforms were set to continue in 2020.
The future of the country is heavily reliant on the output the education system and youth will produce. With every human development project being developed across Egypt, establishing and upgrading the education system through schools and vocational training centers to cope with the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a target.
Over the period from 2020 to 2023, the Ministry of International Cooperation succeeded in supporting the country’s efforts to develop education at all levels, and the total concessional development financing agreements and grants directed to the education, technical, and higher education sectors amounted to about $490 million from many development partners, including the United States of America, the European Union, Germany, the French Development Agency, South Korea, Switzerland and others.
Within the framework of strengthening the partnership between Egypt and the United States of America, the Egypt Pioneers and Scholars Program was launched and implemented, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with a grant of $86 million, with the aim of providing scholarships and training to Egyptian students, researchers, and future leaders.
Under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the program's primary objectives are multifaceted. The Higher Education Agreement was signed on September 30, 2014, and is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2029.
The program focuses specifically on sectors that can advance Egypt's climate goals, and aims to build a more inclusive, capable and skilled workforce that supports sectors vital to the country's economic growth, including achieving women's empowerment, health, digitalization and climate goals.
Firstly, it aims to develop a skilled workforce in line with labor market requirements.
Secondly, it seeks to enhance employment opportunities for graduates of higher education programmes.
Third, Strengthening the institutional capacity of Egyptian higher education institutions through collaborative partnerships and increasing scholarship opportunities.
This comprehensive agreement serves as an incentive for academic and professional development, supports strategic cooperation between Egyptian and American institutions, expands scholarships, supports technical colleges and universities, and sponsors students. Its overarching goal is to address Egypt's pressing development and economic challenges.
Egypt has made great strides in the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, with the emergence of an increasing number of such schools across the country, which aim to provide students with a comprehensive education in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and provide them with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in these vital fields.
The general objectives of establishing schools for outstanding students in science and technology (STEM) are to nurture them and apply new curricula and teaching methods based on investigative projects, an integrative approach to teaching, and achieving integration between the science, mathematics, engineering and technology curriculum, in a way that reveals the extent of the connection between these fields, and prepares a student with The ability to design, create, and think critically, and provide students with cooperative work skills, in addition to preparing a distinguished and qualified scientific base for university education, scientific research, and developing belonging to the homeland. Furthermore, STEM schools often collaborate with universities, research institutions and industry partners.
The Ministry of International Cooperation has been instrumental in increasing high-achieving STEM schools through a partnership with USAID.
The school is one of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools, implemented in the framework of a partnership with the United States Agency for International Development, within the Basic Education Agreement, through which the value of the grants directed through it amounts to about $124 million since 2014, and is implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, with the aim of creating an educated workforce that meets the needs of the labor market.
In conjunction with the annual meetings of the African Development Bank in Sharm El-Sheikh, Al-Mashat and Sultan Al-Murshed, CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development, visited King Salman University in Sharm El-Sheikh, in light of following up on the results of development partnerships between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in confirmation of the distinguished relations between the two sides, this coincides with the annual meetings of the African Development Bank in Sharm El-Sheikh.
King Salman University is one of the pioneering projects implemented in cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, within the framework of the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Program for the Development of the Sinai Peninsula.
During the visit, the results of joint efforts between Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were reviewed, and the permanent relations between the two countries were emphasized. The importance of the project lies in its significant impact on enhancing investments in human capital, in line with Egypt’s quest to achieve quality education and economic growth as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
King Salman University has three branches in Sharm El-Sheikh, Al-Tur, and Ras Sudr. Each branch is distinguished by the diversity of the number of colleges and education programs that suit the labor market and the nature of the environment. The three branches include 15 colleges and 56 programs, including 3 smart programs, and 28 programs have been offered so far. The total number of students studying in the three branches is scheduled to reach 5,000 students during the next year, in light of reaching the target of 25,000 students at the university.
Egypt is currently operating under a new “Education 2.0” system with a focus on digitising education by providing servers, screens and tablets to 25,000 public schools, changing the assessment model for high school and other levels of education in the future, and uploading the curricula from kindergarten through to Grade 12 to a digital library online that is freely accessible.
This reform is supported by the partnership between the Ministry of International Cooperation and the World Bank, and is helping improve education services to 12.2 million primary school students, 8.9 million in junior high and 2.8 million at the secondary level. The project, worth $500 million supports increasing access to quality kindergarten education, improving the quality of learning and adopting technology as a vehicle to achieve reform objectives.