The Minister of Education discusses with the Minister of Education of the Kurdistan Region
Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, met with Dr. Allam Hama Saeed, Minister of Education in the Kurdistan Region. On the sidelines of the activities of the World Education Forum 2024 in London, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation and exchange of experiences between the two countries in the field of pre-university education.
Dr. Reda Hegazy stressed the depth of the historical relations between the two countries, the government and the people, especially in the field of education, noting that there are great challenges in the field of education, in light of the rapid changes, industrial revolutions, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence.
Dr. Reda Hegazy reviewed the Ministry's plan to develop education, explaining that there is a major boom in Egypt in the field of developing technical education, especially in light of the partnership with industrialists and the private sector, as graduates of technical education now possess the skills and competencies that qualify them for the labor market.
Dr. Reda Hegazy explained that the Ministry cares about the gifted and distinguished in the field of science and mathematics by enrolling these students in schools for excellence in science and technology (STEM), and implementing projects based on “Capstone” to develop solutions to the challenges facing the Egyptian state. The students of these schools also achieved advanced positions and awards. In international competitions such as the ISEF competition.
Dr. Reda Hegazy also touched on the efforts of the Egyptian state in combating educational dropout, reviewing the community education model that provides a second opportunity for dropout students to join the education train.
Dr. Reda Hegazy also reviewed the Egyptian-Japanese school model and what distinguishes it in terms of experience and the combination of Japanese treatment and Egyptian curricula, pointing out that these schools are interested in building students’ personalities and skills, as it is based on the “Tokatsu” system, which represents life skills activities and life simulations for students to develop their skills. .
In this context, Dr. Reda Hijazi expressed his welcome for cooperation with the Kurdistan Region and the exchange of experience through the exchange of teachers’ experiences, capacity building, and how to prepare the Tokatsu manual.
During the meeting, Dr. Reda Hegazy also touched on the Egyptian Nile International Schools model, stressing that it grants an Egyptian international certificate and its curricula are accredited by ERIC and Cambridge and are widely accepted by students in Egypt.
Regarding examination systems, the Minister indicated that a question bank has been created, and an evaluation system has been implemented, to help students evaluate their achievement, in addition to the automation of high school certificate exams, where exams are withdrawn from question banks according to specific specifications, stressing that correction is done electronically and is not possible. Any percentage of error.
For his part, Dr. Allam Hama Saeed, Minister of Education in the Kurdistan Region, expressed his happiness with this meeting to enhance cooperation between the two countries, stressing his country’s aspiration to benefit from the Egyptian experience in the field of pre-university education, which is considered a rich experience, as well as to see and benefit from the details of the experience of Japanese schools in Egypt.
The Minister of Education of the Kurdistan Region reviewed the Kurdistan education system, noting that it includes about 7,000 governmental and non-governmental schools, such as private schools that follow the international system, starting from kindergarten until the twelfth grade, and includes approximately one million and 900 thousand students, in addition to vocational education schools that A group of institutes for professional study in the English language has been developed and created.
The Minister of Education of the Kurdistan Region also referred to the unique experience of benefiting from technology, explaining that a great deal of progress has been made in digital transformation, and all steps and procedures for the school education system and student evaluation are now done electronically. They have also achieved success in the external evaluation of schools in cooperation with the British Council. In capacity building, a law was also legislated to establish a national accreditation body.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the two sides agreed on the importance of enhancing cooperation and exchanging experiences related to different educational models and benefiting from the Egyptian experience in the professional development of teachers. Dr. Allam Hama Saeed also invited Dr. Reda Hegazy to attend the Kurdistan Educational Forum next August.