The Ministry of Education reviews the closing remarks of the workshop “Enhancing Reading and Writing Skills
The second day of the workshop “Enhancing Reading and Writing Skills: A Short to Medium-Term Action Plan,” which is organized by the Ministry of Education and Technical Education in cooperation with the World Bank, witnessed the holding of working groups to discuss the workshop’s themes, as well as the presentation of concluding remarks.
Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, inspected the working groups and directed the discussion of applicable steps to be a step towards treating the problem of poor reading and writing among some of our children. He also directed that the discussions produce recommendations that achieve a short- and medium-term action plan.
The Minister also thanked all the participants in the three groups, expressing his appreciation to all parties that contributed to the success of this workshop, noting that ensuring the success of any project depends on the belief of those in charge of it in its importance and its impact on the individual and society in all aspects.
The working groups witnessed the discussion of the three workshop axes, which are: “Teaching practices to enhance initial reading and writing skills,” the second axis, “Building bridges between colloquial and contemporary formal language,” and the third axis, “Enhancing reading and writing skills in the pre-school stage,” where the plan was written, and the plan was described. The problem, review of executable proposals, and presentation and discussion for each group, leading to developing a practical, executable plan in the short and medium term (1-3 years).
During the workshop, the first group discussed the topic “Teaching practices to enhance initial reading and writing skills” and the preparation of pre-service and in-service teachers, those who struggle with reading, and early intervention. The group was moderated by Dr. Hazem Rashid, pre-service program advisor for the Distinguished Teacher Initiative program at the United States Agency for International Development. (USAID).
The second group also discussed the topic of “Building bridges between colloquial and contemporary classical Arabic” and the topics of teaching and learning in order to acquire effective reading and writing skills (phonetic grammar, children’s literature, fluency). The group was moderated by Dr. Mervat Al-Deeb, Chairman of the Preparatory Stage Curricula Development Committee.
As for the third group, it discussed the topic of “Enhancing reading and writing skills in the pre-school stage”, early exposure to contemporary pre-school literature, and family and community awareness. This group was moderated by Dr. Mohamed Fathi, Professor of Mass Communication at Helwan University.
At the conclusion of the workshop, Dr. Akram Hassan, Head of the Central Administration for Curriculum Development, presented the concluding remarks, which included forming a national committee of relevant experts, drawing on international expertise in the field of evaluation and international competition standards, and studying the various experiences that were presented in the workshop through the institutions ( Ministry of Education - Research Centers), as well as what was presented by civil society institutions that presented documented experiences.
The concluding remarks also included studying the various national and international assessment tools to evaluate the basic skills of the Arabic language and choosing the most appropriate tools in terms of application, accuracy and reliability, as well as preparing and testing the assessment tool in cooperation with the National Center for Educational Examinations and Evaluation, in addition to training teachers on how to implement the program.
The most prominent concluding remarks also included conducting a survey test for reading and writing skills for the first stage of basic education at the beginning and end of the 2024-2025 academic year, in addition to implementing the programs that are selected by the committee during the 2024-2025 academic year, in addition to analyzing the results and assessing the effectiveness of the programs. And the procedures that were applied.
This came in the presence of Dr. Mervat Al-Deeb, Chairman of the Preparatory Stage Curricula Development Committee, Dr. Amira Kazim, Senior Operations Officer at the World Bank, Iman Al-Rashidi at the World Bank, Dr. Hazem Rashid, pre-service program advisor for the Distinguished Teacher Initiative Program at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Dr. Suhair Al-Sukkari. President of the Diabetes Foundation for the Development of Children’s Intelligence in Egypt, Dr. Mohamed Fathi, Professor of Mass Communication at Helwan University, in addition to the participation of Mohamed Al-Lafi Allam, member of the Youth Coordination of Parties, politicians, experts from colleges of education, and representatives of international organizations and institutions.
On the part of the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, Dr. Ramadan Mohamed Ramadan, Assistant Minister for Examinations and Educational Evaluation, Dr. Jihan Kamal, Assistant Minister for Educational Research, Dr. Akram Hassan, Head of the Central Administration for Curriculum Development, Mohamed Attia, Head of the Central Administration for Education with Expenses, and Dr. Iman Hassan, Head of the Central Administration, attended. For student activities, directors of educational directorates, a number of education leaders, and directors of educational directorates.