National Academy for Youth leadership opens in October

CAIRO – 29 August 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi issued a decree on Monday to form a national academy to train youth on leadership skills. The academy is expected to start operating in October, with the aim to train, empower and enhance the capacity of youth in various fields including leadership.

The academy’s headquarters is located in 6 October city, it includes six buildings and is established on an area of 10,000 square meters. It falls under the jurisdiction of the presidency, its board of trustees will be headed by the prime minister and will include representatives from the presidency, the ministries of higher education, planning, and finance, and a number of distinguished figures.


Youth National Academy - File Photo

The academy’s curriculum was designed in cooperation with a number of international scientific institutions and aims to follow France’s École nationale d'administration curriculum, according to al-Ahram news agency.

The Minister of Planning, Follow-Up and Administrative Reform, Hala Al-Saeed, said that the academy represents a permanent institutional framework for training youth and will include all public and private sectors’ initiative to support youth. She also confirmed that the budget for training state employees in 2017 will increase to LE 1 billion ($56.6 million) comparing to LE 113 million in 2017, to better serve the Economic and Social development plan.

The academy’s formation was one of the main recommendations resulting from the first youth conference in November 2016, at Sharm El-Sheikh.

Reactions to the Presidential decree to establish the National Academy for Youth:

A number of political figures welcomed the Presidential decree and said that it reflects the president and state’s commitment to empower youth, who represent 23.6 percent of the population in Egypt.

Members of the Presidential Pardon committee in the Parliament, Kareem Al-Saqqa and Tarek Kholy, demanded utilizing the Youth Training Academy to rehabilitate the young released detainees. They also explained that the academy will represent a safe environment to youth and will contribute to preparing new leaders for the future to hold vital roles in the country including representation in the parliament and the local councils.

Member of the Sports and Youth committee in the Parliament, Farag Amer, described the decree as a great decree that reflects Sisi’s commitment to create effective communication channels to bridge the gap with youth and to protect them from extreme ideologies and terrorists.

Member of the Parliament and secretary of the Communications and Information Technology Committee, Ahmed Zidan, said that he hopes to see branches of the academy in all governorates, to train the largest number of young people. The MP added that Sisi, since his election, expressed that he wants to utilize youth’s potentials to build a strong future for Egypt. Zidan explained that Sisi’s statements were reflected in the investment in youth through the leadership training program and the regular youth conferences.