Microsoft to train 600K Egyptian teachers on new technologies

CAIRO – 8 May 2018: “Microsoft will train 600,000 Egyptian teachers to use modern technology over the next few years,” Mark East, general manager of Microsoft EMEA & ASIA Education Industry Group, told MENA’s office in Kuwait on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the Kuwait Education Forum, which is being held May 7-9 with the participation of eight Egyptian universities, East added that the company has coordinated with Egypt’s Ministry of Education to provide modern technology in all public schools.

East pointed out that he will visit Egypt next week to meet with Minister of Education Tarek Shawky to increase cooperation between them to develop education in Egypt.

East added that the company will launch its new Microsoft Schools program and is looking to coordinate with schools around the world to join the program.

“Microsoft Schools depends on converting all schools to technology schools by using computers and introducing the internet into the educational system,” he said.

“The latest studies conducted by the company pointed out that, by 2030, about 70 percent of the schools around the world will depend on technology in their system, meaning that all students in primary schools should learn to use technology now in order to be able to develop the labor market,” he added.

The eight Egyptian universities participating in the forum are Cairo, Aswan, Benha, Menoufia, Tanta, Sadat, Suez Canal and October 6 universities.

In line with the development of the education system in Egypt, Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar told Egypt Today on May 7 that the ministry will transfer the curriculum from books to electronic programs on computers.

Meanwhile, Cairo University President Mohamed Othman Elkhosht told Egypt Today that the Ministry of Higher Education will apply new procedures to prevent exams from being leaked, including deleting copies of the exams from the ministry’s computers and database.

To encourage the Egyptian state to invest in education, the World Bank's board of executive directors unanimously approved supporting Egypt’s national education strategy to develop pre-university education with $500 million, according to a statement from the Investment and International Cooperation Ministry on April 16.

Regarding the field of technical and technological education, Abdel-Ghaffar said in a statement on December 2017 that the state is working on the establishment of eight new technological universities distributed across all governorates.

Under the strategic vision of the ministry for 2030, the state will establish 32 universities in order to provide excellent educational opportunities for students and relieve pressure on the current universities.