4th 'Egypt Can' conference focuses on improving Education in Egypt

CAIRO – 10 December 2018: The Ministry of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs will shed light on ways to improve education during this year’s edition of the conference “Egypt Can…with Education” set to take place on December 17 and 18 in Hurghada.

Held under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the fourth edition of the conference is held in cooperation with Ministry of Immigration, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education alongside 11 concerned entities.

The conference aims to benefit from the knowledge of Egyptian scientists working abroad through sharing their vision on ways to develop the educational system in Egypt.
During the conference, six workshops will be held to tackle ways to promote the educational system and engage Egyptian students in this system.

In this regard, Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram announded said on Sunday that around 30 Egyptian experts and scientists working abroad in the field of education will take part in the fourth edition of the conference.

Makram added that the conference aims to support the government’s efforts to develop the Egyptian education to meet the basic needs of the labor market and benefit from Egyptian scientists living abroad.

She referred that this year’s edition comes in line with President Sisi’s announcement that 2019 is the “Year of Education”.

The immigration minister said the previous editions of the conference were very successful as they linked Egyptian scientists abroad with their homeland and got them more involved in their country's development.

In July, Sisi declared 2019 the year of education during the second day of the youth conference held at Cairo University.

He pointed out that human development is a key pillar of the government’s vision; hence, his administration’s human development strategy will not only focus on education, but will also include health, culture and sports.

In September, the Ministry of Education announced its plan to develop the educational system in Egypt to the committee in charge at the Parliament.

The new system includes changing the Thanaweya Amma system which in turn requires the Supreme Council of Universities to change the admission requirements for each college.

Thanaweya Amma is the third and final year of high school which qualifies students for college. Students’ grades have been determined upon their final exams' results only, making their total score the only determinant for their admission in different colleges without any admission tests or personal interviews.

The ministry plans to make students take multiple exams, while preserving the booklet format implemented in the academic year 2016-2017, which had almost eradicated cheating common in the former format.

The former format required memorization rather than comprehension of the curriculum, which had created a huge informal sector of private lessons taught by school teachers who often purposefully neglected their role in class to push students to take such lessons.

The booklet format contains only MCQs and short answer questions to be answered in one exam sheet, unlike the former format comprising an answer sheet and a question sheet.

Teachers of Thanaweya Amma will receive different trainings; also, the contracts and administrative affairs of teachers will be restructured to improve their living and professional conditions.