Minister of Education receives World Bank delegation to enhance joint cooperation
Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, received today a delegation from the World Bank to follow up on joint cooperation files to develop the pre-university education system.
Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif stressed the strong partnership with the World Bank in the education reform program with the ministry, and many areas of joint work, including early childhood programs, comprehensive assessment programs, the teachers' standards document, and the training package for kindergarten teachers.
During the meeting, the Minister reviewed the Ministry's plan and efforts during the past period, noting that the focus was on identifying the work axes that are being worked on to address the challenges that hinder the development of the educational process, most notably the density of classes and the shortage of teachers, in addition to identifying mechanisms to attract students to schools, noting that the Ministry succeeded in overcoming these investigations during the past period through a package of procedures and decisions that were identified after intensive field visits to various governorates and a series of meetings with directors of educational departments, school principals and teachers, in addition to reviewing these solutions by experts and the approval of the parties to the educational system, explaining that the solutions that were put in place are consistent with the nature of each educational department, and he also touched on the mechanisms for restructuring the secondary stage, which was done according to international standards; to provide the opportunity for the teacher to provide a good educational process inside the classroom, with a number of approved hours for basic subjects.
For his part, the World Bank team appreciated the World Bank's participation with the Ministry for several years in the education reform program, stressing the keenness to continue the fruitful partnership in the education reform plan, and to provide all aspects of support to implement the Ministry's strategic plan, and support the implementation of various training packages for teachers.
The meeting included discussions on enhancing cooperation between the Ministry and the Bank in existing areas of cooperation related to the Egyptian Education Reform Project, ways to improve reading, writing and numeracy skills for students in basic education, continuous professional development for in-service teachers, and completing programs and agreements concluded between the two sides.
The meeting was attended from the World Bank side by Stefan Gimbert, Regional Director of the World Bank, Dr. Amira Kazem, Team Leader, Mr. Mohamed Yehia, Senior Financial Management Specialist, and Ms. Veronica Gregera, Senior Education Specialist.
From the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, Ms. Nefert Haroun, Senior Director of the World Bank Group, and Bassem Sami, Senior Economic Researcher, and Mr. Amr El-Shorby, Economics Expert, also attended.
From the Ministry of Education, Dr. Ayman Bahaa El-Din, Deputy Minister, Dr. Ramadan Mohamed, Assistant Minister for Examinations and Educational Evaluation, Ms. Sherine Hamdy, Advisor to the Minister for International Relations and Agreements, Dr. Hala Abdel Salam, Head of the Central Administration for General Education, Iman Al-Rashidi, Project Manager, Amira Awad, Ministry Coordinator for United Nations Organizations, and Rasha Al-Geoushy, Ministry Coordinator for Academic Affairs for International Schools, attended.