JICA hands sanitary kits, basic equipment to Egyptian nurseries amid coronavirus

CAIRO – 9 April 2021: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS) held a ceremony on Thursday to handover the sanitary kits and basic equipment provided by JICA to contribute to resuming the activities inside Egyptian nurseries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Equipment includes infrared thermometers, shoe shelves and electric fans, besides the sanitary kits that include masks, gloves, sanitizer, and others. They were delivered to 300 nurseries in five governorates to support the efforts of combating the spread of COVID-19 through strengthening the preventive measures and healthy practices.

The support comes within the framework of JICA’s project for the improvement of the Quality of Early Childhood Development (ECD) in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity under the umbrella of Egypt-Japan Education Partnership “EJEP” which was launched by the leaders of both countries in 2016.

The objective of this support is to provide the necessary equipment to assist the government’s efforts to reopen the nurseries in different governorates that were affected by the temporary shutdown that was imposed as a precautionary measure to limit the spread of COVID-19.  Besides the equipment provision, the project team led by Japanese experts conducted training on precautionary measures and healthy practices for the nurseries’ facilitators.

 

Under this project that started in 2017, JICA has been extending support to 50 nurseries in 5 governorates including Ismailia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Port Said, Qalyubia and Suez, with the objective to improve the quality of education in the Egyptian public nurseries through the introduction of the concept of “Learning through Playing” based on Japanese experiences. It is worth mentioning that this time, JICA provided the needed equipment and training for 250 additional nurseries besides the 50 targeted nurseries so as to alleviate the existing challenges posed by the pandemic.

The handover ceremony was held at the Ministry of Social Solidarity with the attendance of Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El Kabbaj, Ambassador of Japan in Egypt Noke Masaki, Director General of JICA Middle East and Europe Department, Matsunaga Hideki, who is visiting Egypt in the duration between 4 to 8 April.

Chief Representative of JICA Egypt Office Omura Yoshifumi and Hany Helal, former minister of higher education and the secretary general of EJEP Steering Committee also attended, along with the project team including Japanese experts and representatives from MOSS and JICA. 

 

In her opening remarks, Kabbaj, expressed appreciation for the cooperation with the Japanese government and JICA, praising JICA’s support that cover several fields and particularly in developing the early childhood learning curriculum and training officers, nursery managers and facilitators, as well as producing several educational materials such as “Learning through playing concept”, in addition to organizing sessions with parents and their children about the importance of reading before bed and physical exercises for children.

Kabbaj stated that within the framework of cooperation with Egypt, Japan hosted the Egyptian cadres working in this field, in order to gain experience and then train local human resources, noting that this project aims to improve the quality of childcare in nurseries by presenting a strategy of learning through playing, and improving the environment in nurseries through introduction of sand basins and playing in the corners.

From his side, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, Masaki hailed the ongoing cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, referring to the steering committee meeting of the Egypt-Japan Education Partnership. The committee meeting came in the presence of the minister of social solidarity and the ministers of education and higher education on April 4. It reviewed the progress of the quality of early childhood development project.

Director General of JICA Middle East and Europe Department Hideki thanked the minister, praising the continuous cooperation with JICA, which started long time ago through JICA’s volunteers program to share the Japanese experiences in the field of early childhood by introducing the concept of learning through playing, which was further developed into a Project under the Egypt-Japan Education Partnership.

At the end, Chief Representative of JICA Egypt Office, Yoshifumi, handed over the certificate of provided equipment and sanitary kits that were distributed to nurseries in different governorates to the minister.