The Minister of Education discusses with the World Bank's Global Director for Education
Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, met today, on the sidelines of the World Education Forum in London, with Dr. Louis Benvenisti, Global Director of Education at the World Bank, to discuss enhancing cooperation to transform the pre-university education system, on the sidelines of the activities of the World Education Forum 2024 in London.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education, appreciated the strong partnership with the World Bank in the education reform program, which began in 2018, reviewing areas of joint work, including early childhood programs, school leadership programs, the teacher standards document, and training kindergarten teachers.
The Minister also reviewed the Ministry’s efforts to develop the comprehensive assessment system in light of digital transformation and technological development, which includes question banks for drawing equivalent images, electronic exams and electronic correction, and testing students using a tablet, stressing that the assessment system measures the student’s ability to deeply understand and higher levels of thinking. Critical thinking and problem solving, which leads to real learning outcomes.
The Minister added that the Ministry has created the Support and Communication Department in the new organizational structure of the Ministry to be responsible for raising awareness of the education reform program in Egypt, and involving teachers and parents in the development, expressing his appreciation for the support of the World Bank to the Ministry in this framework, which was reflected in achieving good and tangible results for this. Effort in the field.
The Minister also stressed that the Ministry works for the benefit of its students and to achieve a better future for them. Therefore, the Ministry focuses greatly on improving the reading and writing skills of its students in the first grades, as it is one of the most important skills that a student must acquire in the early stages, and this is what the Ministry cooperates with the World Bank on. .
The Minister also stressed that the teacher is the cornerstone that leads development, and the Ministry cooperates with the World Bank in the professional development of teachers and the Teacher Standards Document (CPD), and also follows the Training of Trainers (TOT) methodology, and implements on-the-job training through training modules.
Dr. Reda Hegazy added that the Egyptian state now has a new mechanism for selecting new teachers in line with the comprehensive development strategy of the educational system, and the Ministry’s vision of selecting teachers who have professional skills, renewed knowledge, and sound professional values and behaviors, and who have the ability to continuously develop their skills so that they can Keeping pace with modern education methods associated with digital transformation and technological breakthroughs.
The Minister reviewed the mechanisms for selecting teachers, explaining that the announcement of the competition for new teachers takes place at the level of each directorate, according to its need, and their appointment goes through three stages, starting with the applicant passing the tests of the Central Organization for Organization and Administration in five components, which are specialization, pedagogy, ICT, general culture, and language. An educational rehabilitation course and a mental and physical training package with the aim of qualifying them for the final training stage.
The Minister also referred to the President of the Republic’s initiative “1,000 school principals,” noting that the first batch of them had been trained at the highest level. To become school principals, and assigning the National Center for Educational Examinations and Evaluation to follow up and evaluate their performance, adding that the tests for applicants for the second batch are conducted according to special standards with the aim of creating educational leaders.
For his part, Dr. Louis Benvenisti, Global Director for Education at the World Bank, praised the efforts of Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, in developing and reforming education, especially in the first grades, stressing the positive impact of this important stage. Therefore, in light of this success and development, the Bank seeks to provide more Support for children who need to improve their level of education.
The World Bank's Global Director for Education appreciated the efforts of the Egyptian Ministry of Education on the right track, stressing the World Bank's keenness to provide all means of support to develop the educational system in Egypt.
The meeting included discussions on enhancing ways of cooperation between the Ministry and the Bank in the areas of existing cooperation with the Bank related to the Egyptian education reform project, ways to improve reading, writing and numeracy skills for students in basic education, and continuing professional development for in-service teachers.