The Minister of Education receives a delegation that includes representatives of 120 American universities
Dr. Reda Hegazy reviews the Ministry's efforts in the field of developing pre-university education
Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, received a delegation of representatives of 120 American universities. To discuss ways of cooperation in the field of developing pre-university education, especially in the field of educational leadership.
At the outset of the meeting, Dr. Al-Wazir welcomed the attendees, expressing his happiness with this meeting, which aims to enhance the exchange of experiences, and affirm the Ministry's welcome to all partnerships aimed at developing the educational process in Egypt.
During the meeting, Dr. Reda Hegazy gave a presentation on the Ministry's most prominent efforts to develop pre-university education in Egypt, stressing that education is a matter of national security, and that the Ministry works in an institutional manner and has a strategic plan that it works to implement through a number of axes in light of the state's vision for sustainable development 2030. .
Dr. Reda Hegazy explained that the Ministry of Education is working to keep pace with global changes in light of the industrial revolutions and digital transformation, noting that the ministry includes 25 million students, 60 thousand schools, in addition to 2 million teachers and administrators, but the Egyptian state was one of the first developing countries to I achieved this change in light of the Corona crisis and overcame this challenge.
The minister confirmed that the ministry had a challenge for students to return to schools after the repercussions of the Corona virus continued for two years, so it worked on a number of axes that represent attractive elements for students.
Dr. Reda Hegazy explained that the ministry is working on developing educational curricula in accordance with the new education system in a way that achieves the desired learning outcomes, in accordance with international standards, and in a way that contributes to building the Egyptian character, noting that the current generation is a digital generation, so the ministry tended to integrate digital transformation into Education, to make the student more eager to learn and innovate, explaining that in the framework of the digital transformation in education technology, electronic platforms were used such as the Egypt Classes platform, the live broadcast platform, in addition to allocating classes for watching educational channels such as our school 1, 2 and 3, as well as the use of tablets, where The number of tablet users annually reached 700,000 students, with a total number of 3,500,000 tablets delivered to students, in addition to equipping 2,500 schools with advanced technological infrastructure, including optical fibers, high-speed Internet, and the use of smart screens.
In line with efforts in the field of curriculum development, the minister explained that the ministry focused on evaluating students by measuring major concepts that are based on life skills, as well as testing readiness for learning, in addition to assessing the extent to which they benefit from research projects related to the challenges facing the Egyptian state. Students implement them during each semester in collaboration with their classmates making learning a lifelong journey.
Dr. Reda Hijazi also touched on the efforts currently being made to develop the school curricula, indicating that preparations are underway to set the general framework for the preparatory stage.
As for discovering and caring for talented people, the minister confirmed that the ministry also pays great attention to talented people in all fields and various activities, stressing that an integrated plan has been developed in cooperation with the Ministries of Culture and Youth and Sports; To implement the program for discovering and nurturing talented people, in addition to organizing events and competition camps to discover and select the cultural and artistic talents of students of various educational levels, as well as the “Revive School Theater” initiative that focuses on developing artistic and theatrical talents among students, as well as launching the Egypt Schools Olympiad.
The minister indicated that in light of the interest in the teacher, his professional development and his possession of the necessary skills, the political leadership agreed to appoint 150,000 teachers over a period of 5 years in light of the real need at the level of each educational directorate, in the context of seeking to bridge the deficit in the number of teachers, stressing that The Ministry's vision is represented in the presence and selection of teachers with professional skills, excellent knowledge, sound professional values and behaviors, and the ability to continuously develop their skills so that they can keep pace with different and modern learning methods related to digital transformation, technology and other scientific and educational tools, in addition to preparing a law for a license to practice the profession that requires Everyone who practices the profession of teaching must obtain this license to practice work.
In this context, the minister touched on the presidential initiative to select 1,000 school principals from young teachers, which includes many steps to select the most efficient school principals,
Where they are given comprehensive training with full residence for a period of 6 months, provided that those who pass this program are awarded a diploma in educational leadership and national security, which in turn paves the way for those who pass it to take over the management of the school.
The minister also shed light on some distinguished models of Egyptian schools, including Nile International Schools, which apply the Nile International Certificate, which is an Egyptian certificate designed in accordance with international standards in partnership with Cambridge International. The Nile international educational system is applied in 14 schools, and schools for outstanding students in science and technology. STEM Schools, which are governmental secondary schools, apply modern teaching methods with a working group system, and outstanding students who have a preparatory certificate are selected, as well as Egyptian-Japanese schools, which are Egyptian schools in cooperation with the Japanese JICA. They study the Egyptian curricula, with the application of tokatsu activities and the use of Japanese supervisors .
The minister also touched on the axis of educational buildings, explaining that the number of projects and classes that were established during the period from 1/7/2021 to date is 1859 projects, with a total number of 27794 classrooms, as nearly 100 thousand students join the educational system annually, so they are confronted with This increase is to build between 27,000 to 30,000 classrooms annually to accommodate this increase.
Within the framework of developing the technical education system, the minister indicated that the ministry has developed a strategy for the development of technical education represented in several main axes, namely the establishment of an independent quality assurance body, the conversion of school curricula into curricula based on the methodology of competencies, and the improvement of teachers' skills with the participation of employers in the development of technical education from Through the schools of applied technology, which now numbered 52 schools, in addition to working to change the stereotype about technical education by making a radical and real improvement to the educational service provided, in addition to offering 28 technical education centers to participate with the private sector, with the participation of a number of international development partners such as The European Union (EU), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the German Construction Bank (KFW), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
For his part, Dr. Hossam Badrawi pointed out the importance of civil society cooperation with the government, in light of the state's plan for sustainable development 2030, stressing the provision of all means of support to the ministry to implement its plan to develop the educational process in Egypt, and cooperation in implementing projects aimed at building the capacity of teachers.
Dr. Salma Al-Bakry also expressed her appreciation for the tangible efforts to develop the pre-university education system in Egypt, stressing the importance of this meeting in identifying the Ministry's vision, enabling institutions to identify ways to support the Ministry in achieving its goals.
The meeting witnessed a discussion on the most important axes that can be built upon in achieving the desired cooperation to support efforts to develop the educational system. The delegation of American universities expressed their happiness with this meeting, which aims to enhance and exchange experiences in the field of pre-university education, stressing the provision of all aspects of support and expertise to specialized institutions. In the field of education, such as the Egyptian Ministry of Education.
The delegation also praised the educational process in Egypt and the efforts exerted to improve it, through what they saw during their visit to the El-Obour School for Outstanding Students.
For his part, Dr. Reda Hijazi stressed the importance of defining the frameworks through which different experiences can be exchanged that contribute to supporting the targeted development strategy.
This came in the presence of Dr. Hossam Badrawi, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the "Education First" Foundation, Dr. Salma Al-Bakry, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the "Education First" Foundation, Dr. Mahmoud Hamza, Executive Director of the Foundation, and the University Council for Education Administration (UCEA), which includes a group of professors representing 120 universities. From the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, Mr. Mohamed Attia, Head of the Central Administration for Education with Expenses, Dr. Akram Hassan, Head of the Central Administration for Curriculum Development, Dr. Sherine Hamdi, Advisor to the Minister for Administrative Development and Supervisor of the Central Administration for the Affairs of the Minister’s Office, Dr. Rabab Zaidan, Director General of the General Administration of Educational Leadership, attended .