Minister of Education discusses with Vice President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, received today Ms. Sachiko Emoto, Vice President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and her accompanying delegation; to discuss ways of support provided by JICA to keep pace with the ambitious plan to expand Egyptian-Japanese schools.

At the beginning of the meeting, Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif appreciated the clear efforts of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and their continuous support for pre-university education in both general and technical types through the exchange of experiences and the implementation of joint programs, pointing to the depth of historical and cultural relations between Egypt and Japan, stressing the ministry's keenness to expand Egyptian-Japanese schools and generalize "Tokkatsu" activities in all government schools, due to its great success.

The Minister pointed out that the Egyptian-Japanese schools are a distinguished educational model that calls for pride, and has a positive impact on students and society as a whole, as they focus on developing children's non-cognitive skills by enhancing their personal capabilities, social skills, and ability to build human relationships, in addition to consolidating moral values, which is the basis on which the Ministry's strategy is built.

The Minister explained that the number of Egyptian-Japanese schools has reached 55 new schools in 26 governorates since the experiment was implemented in 2017, adding that the Ministry is working to maintain the quality of education in these schools, and establish another number of schools to reach 100 schools in various governorates of the Republic, and continue to train teachers in cooperation with Japanese experts.

For her part, Ms. Emoto Sachiko praised the Ministry's outstanding efforts in developing education within a few months, which reflects a bright future vision for education in Egypt, saying: "We believe that Egypt has the best experts in the field of education in the world," expressing her country's pride in cooperation and partnership with Egypt in many areas of common importance.

Ms. Emoto pointed out that the Japanese side is convinced that working with the Egyptian side will provide a lot for education in Africa and the whole world, stressing the continuation of providing all means of support to expand the number of Egyptian-Japanese schools, and providing the technical expertise required by the Japanese side within the framework of the close partnership between the Ministry and JICA.

This was attended by Dr. Hani Hilal, Secretary General of the Egyptian Partnership for Education, and from the Japanese Embassy in Cairo, Mr. Suzuki Yusuke, Counselor at the Embassy, ​​and Mr. Kawashima Shizuki, Second Secretary at the Embassy, ​​and from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mr. Mochizuki Hiroshi, Deputy Director of the Human Development Department, and from the JICA office in Egypt, Mr. Kato Ken, Head of the Office, Mr. Yazaki Jintar, Deputy Head of the Office, and Ms. Dina Karam, Chief Program Officer at the Agency.

From the Ministry of Education, Ms. Sherine Hamdy, Minister's Advisor for International Relations and Agreements, and Ms. Nevin Hamouda, Minister's Advisor for Strategic Relations and Supervisor of Egyptian-Japanese Schools attended.