Ashraf AboArafe
On 16 October, Oxford University and the company AQA launched into the Egyptian market a new product to bring the world’s best education to Egyptian schools.
An event at the British Embassy marked the official recognition of the Oxford International AQA Examinations (OxfordAQA) qualifications for secondary students by the Egyptian Ministry of Education and the launch of the new Independent Project Qualification, which is a qualification that students can achieve as a supplement to A-levels.
Oxford International AQA is a joint venture between Oxford University Press and AQA. Oxford University Press is part of the University of Oxford, which this year, for the second year in a row, topped the World University Rankings. AQA is the UK’s largest academic qualifications provider. The joint venture brings British International GCSE and AS and A-level qualifications, which are recognised across the world, to Egypt.
The event was attended by his Excellency British Ambassador to Egypt John Casson, the Head of International Market Development at Oxford International AQA, Mark Elliott and British Council Director Jeff Streeter. Attendees included Head Teachers of British International Schools, Ministry of Education representatives, and Ministry of Higher Education representatives.
His Excellency Ambassador John Casson said: “We see life-changing results when we give talented young Egyptians access to Britain’s world class education. Young Egyptians deserve world-class education, and I’m proud that another internationally acclaimed British education organisation is entering the education market to transfer knowledge from book to Egyptian minds. Around 125 schools already use the British education system, because it focuses not just on acquiring knowledge, but on developing creativity and problem solving skills. Today, we celebrate another success, with the recognition of OxfordAQA qualifications by the Egyptian Ministry of Education, which is another step in our path to becoming Egypt’s number one education partner”
This week alone has witnessed two more major announcements in the field of UK-Egyptian education and training cooperation; a cooperation programme between Alexandria University, Pearson UK and IARS which will train 300 medical students in the pilot phase alone, and UK-funded training workshops in association with the UNODC and the Egyptian Prosecutors Office to train prosecutors to strengthen the capacity of Egyptian prosecutors to investigate and prosecute migrant smuggling and people trafficking.
