Minister of Education Chairs Meeting of the Supreme Council for Pre-University Education
Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, chaired a meeting of the Supreme Council for Pre-University Education to review several important decisions and topics aimed at improving the quality of education, developing educational policies, and supporting plans to develop pre-university education.
The Minister opened the meeting by emphasizing the crucial role of the Supreme Council for Pre-University Education in supporting the educational process and the comprehensive development underway in the education system. He stressed the importance of cooperation and integration among all sectors of education to effectively contribute to formulating decisions and developing policies and plans that support the development of the education system.
During the meeting, the Minister reviewed the results of teaching programming and artificial intelligence in the first year of secondary school. He confirmed that the demand for the Japanese programming and artificial intelligence platform exceeded all expectations, explaining that more than 750,000 students have already registered on the platform, including 222,000 students who have completed the entire training content. This is an unprecedented achievement that reflects students' awareness of the importance of future skills.
The Minister added that the Ministry is proceeding with its strategic vision, emphasizing that no student will graduate from the Egyptian education system without mastering programming skills. He stressed that all high school graduates will possess the necessary programming fundamentals and will receive an international certificate attesting to their proficiency in programming skills, issued by Hiroshima University, one of Japan's leading universities specializing globally in technology and artificial intelligence.
The Minister affirmed that the "Kiryo" platform operates with high efficiency and is one of the most important tools for building students' digital capabilities. He noted the Ministry's continued expansion of digital transformation programs to prepare a generation capable of competing in the local and international job markets, announcing the introduction of programming and artificial intelligence as subjects in technical education starting next academic year.
The Minister also mentioned the signing of a historic protocol with Italy to establish 89 applied technology schools in cooperation with major Egyptian industrial centers and investors, making this the largest partnership of its kind globally in the field of technical education.
He added that the project represents a qualitative and historic leap for technical education in Egypt, opening the door to attracting more foreign investors to establish new technology schools. He emphasized that this partnership will make a significant difference in developing the technical education system in the coming phase.
The meeting also discussed the draft ministerial decree concerning the rules for establishing and regulating the operation of applied technology schools. This comes as a result of the significant expansion of this system, with the number of schools increasing to 204 following recent cooperation protocols. This coincides with the comprehensive development projects and plans underway in the technical education system, which necessitate reorganizing the operational mechanisms within these schools to keep pace with current developments and ensure the achievement of their strategic objectives.
The meeting also discussed the draft ministerial decree concerning the regulation of certificates for STEM and gifted students, the study system, and examinations. Additionally, the establishment of a unit for gifted and talented schools was discussed, along with the approval to transfer the Ain Shams School for Gifted Students to this unit.
The meeting addressed pre-university education indicators, with Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif announcing the launch of the first integrated national database for the 2024-2025 academic years. This database enhances transparency and evidence-based reform, ensuring full alignment with international statistical methodologies and reliable data on students and teachers. It utilizes an integrated data collection system that complies with the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) standards, and ITU indicators, positioning Egypt within the global movement to promote educational accountability and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
The Minister explained that the Ministry relied on spatial analysis, field visits, data verification, and continuous communication with the governorates in this endeavor. This approach contributed to significant achievements in a short period, including reducing classroom density by adding and utilizing approximately 100,000 new learning spaces through existing infrastructure; addressing teacher shortages through targeted recruitment and redistribution; updating class schedules to maximize the use of expertise; and increasing actual teaching time by extending the academic year, thus enabling students to strengthen their essential learning skills. Furthermore, school attendance rates have risen after years of decline.
Programming and artificial intelligence have also been introduced for first-year secondary school students, and the digital platform has been made available to all governorates with the support of the Ministry of Communications and international partners, with training provided to teachers, which represents a strong indicator of Egypt’s readiness to participate in the global digital transformation and to put its youth at the forefront of technological competition.