The Minister of Education discusses with a delegation from the Tokyo

Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, held a meeting today, Monday, with a high-level Japanese delegation from the Tokyo Prefectural Education Council. This meeting followed an inspection tour of the Egyptian International Leadership Center for Empowering People with Special Needs in 10th of Ramadan City. The meeting reviewed opportunities and prospects for future cooperation between the Egyptian and Japanese sides in the field of pre-university education and empowering people with special needs.

At the beginning of the meeting, Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif thanked the visiting Japanese delegation for this important visit, expressing his aspiration to enhance bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Japan in the field of education.

He also praised the successful Japanese model in education, emphasizing that the Japanese experience in Egyptian schools represents an exemplary success story that should be replicated across the African continent.

The Minister expressed his aspiration to enhance cooperation in the field of rehabilitation and empowerment of people with special needs through the Japanese side's participation in managing the Egyptian International Leadership Center to transfer Japanese expertise in the field of services provided to people with special needs. He also worked to generalize the benefits of Japanese expertise when expanding rehabilitation and empowerment centers for people with special needs in the future across the country, drawing inspiration from the model he saw during his recent visit to Tokyo to achieve a qualitative shift in this field in Egypt. He emphasized that the essence of cooperation lies in effective management.

The meeting witnessed an agreement to launch a twinning agreement with one of the most prominent centers for people with special needs in Japan.

The Minister also referred to another model of cooperation, represented by the experience of applied technology schools launched in partnership with the private sector. He reiterated his welcome to Japanese partners, emphasizing the Egyptian people's love for Japan and Egypt's keenness to strengthen bilateral relations to serve common interests in the educational and humanitarian fields.

For their part, the Japanese delegation expressed their pride in meeting the Minister during his visit to Japan and his meeting with the Mayor of Tokyo. They noted that the message conveyed by the Egyptian side regarding "integrating children with special needs into Egyptian society and ensuring that they live a normal life is a priority for the Egyptian state" resonated widely in Japan and was considered a moving and inspiring message.

Members of the Japanese delegation praised their visit to the Egyptian International Center for Empowering People with Special Needs, emphasizing Japan's keenness to enhance cooperation in this field.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Minister emphasized the need to transform the vision of cooperation in the field of empowering people with special needs into practical steps on the ground, emphasizing that "every day of delay means depriving a child with special needs of the care they deserve."

The Japanese delegation included Mr. Kudo Tadahito, Head of International Cooperation, and a high-level delegation from the Tokyo Prefectural Board of Education.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Hanem Ahmed, Advisor to the Minister for International Cooperation; Dr. Hala Abdel Salam, Head of the Central Administration for General Education; Dr. Sahar El-Alfy, Director General of the General Administration for Special Education at the Ministry of Education; and Dr. Medhat Helal, Advisor to the Minister for Administrative Development.