Minister of Education Receives Delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce
Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, received a delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt this morning, headed by Ms. Sylvia Manassa, the Chamber's CEO, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in attracting investments to the pre-university and technical education sectors.
The American Chamber of Commerce delegation included Ms. Dina Nawar, Chief Operating Officer of the Chamber; Mr. Ahmed Wahbi, CEO of the Egypt Education Platform and Co-Chair of the Chamber's Education Committee; Mr. George Sedky, Co-Chair of the Chamber's Education Committee; Mr. Ehab Rizk, Co-Chair of the Chamber's Education Committee; and Ms. Sarah Hassan El-Kalla, Co-Chair of the Chamber's Education Committee.
Also present from the Ministry of Education were Dr. Ahmed Daher, Deputy Minister, and Ms. Iman Yassin, Director of the General Department of International Relations.
During the meeting, Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif emphasized the Ministry's commitment to expanding cooperation with American institutions and the private sector. This collaboration aims to bolster the state's efforts to improve the quality of education, enhance school efficiency, and provide advanced educational services that meet international standards. He also highlighted the importance of expanding international partnerships in technical education, as part of the strategy to expand applied technology schools.
The Minister noted that the Ministry is working according to a comprehensive strategy aimed at achieving tangible progress in the educational field. He reviewed the Ministry's efforts over the past period to address accumulated challenges, pointing to the reduction of student density and the creation of new learning spaces in various schools across the country. This was achieved alongside the construction of new schools, addressing teacher shortages, and increasing student attendance to 87%. He also mentioned curriculum development and the collaboration with Japan to integrate programming and artificial intelligence into the curriculum for first-year secondary school students through the Japanese "Kiryo" platform. This initiative aligns with the national objective of preparing a generation whose abilities and skills are commensurate with technological advancements.
Minister Abdel Latif also discussed the implementation of the Egyptian Baccalaureate system and its advantages, including multiple examination opportunities and diverse pathways tailored to students' interests and abilities.
As part of efforts to develop technical education, the Minister highlighted the Ministry's success in establishing international partnerships to launch applied technology schools in various specializations and award graduates internationally accredited certificates. He cited the close cooperation with Italy, which recently resulted in the launch of 89 applied technology schools, as well as collaboration with several other countries in this area.
For their part, the delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce expressed their appreciation for the Ministry's unprecedented efforts to overcome challenges and develop the education system. They commended Egypt's recent progress in improving educational indicators and developing data-driven policies.
The delegation members also affirmed the Chamber's readiness to strengthen its partnership with the Ministry, provide technical support and international expertise, collaborate on priority initiatives, and attract foreign investment to support the development of the education system.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif emphasized the Ministry's aspiration to expand the horizons of joint cooperation, contributing to supporting education development plans, improving the quality of educational services, and enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian education system regionally and internationally.