Ashraf AboArafe
The Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education (MoETE) Dr Reda Hegazy attended the UK’s Education World Forum (EWF) 2023 in London, where education ministers, policymakers and experts from all over the world come together to assess education’s common issues and challenges, exchange knowledge and expertise and explore the different opportunities that await the education sector.
This year’s forum, held from 7-10 May, reflected on the importance of leadership, and the growing role of education technology. It also considered education’s potential to contributing to global sustainability.
During the forum, Dr Hegazy, accompanied by a delegation from the British Council and the Department for Business and Trade, attended this year’s Africa Education Breakfast, which connects African ministries of education with British educational organisations, showcasing UK capabilities in the education sector and exploring the benefits of adopting ‘large-scale’ solutions to improve the quality and access of educational systems. Ministers also take this opportunity to build potential partnerships.
Dr Hegazy also attended the Africa Ministers Forum, centred around discussions about the challenges that African nations face in delivering education services while offering best practices in education management across the continent. Participants considered establishing this Forum as a regular gathering of Africa Education Ministers, supported by a network of technical advisers and researchers.
Besides the participation of the UK’s Minister of Education, Gillian Keegan, other UK ministers also attended the EWF, including Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and the United Nations. In a bilateral meeting with Dr Hegazy, Lord Ahmad and the minister discussed the importance of a support programme for young students with special educational needs and disabilities which the British Council has been implementing in Egyptian public schools. They also discussed the importance of continuing national English teacher training in Egypt and the benefits of education technology in improving education quality.
Minister of State for the Middle East Lord Ahmad said: “Egypt is undertaking transformational change to improve educational quality, and as such I was delighted to meet with Minister of Education Dr Reda Hegazy this week during the Education World Forum, the largest gathering of education ministers worldwide. The UK and Egypt are long-term educational partners, and there are numerous opportunities for future joint activity, whether on special educational needs and inclusion, English language training, or supporting new UK-linked schools and universities in Egypt. British education is rightly considered world-leading, and I am proud of the work we are doing with our Egyptian partners to bring this expertise to Egypt, and to support the government of Egypt in its ambitious reforms.”
During his time at EWF, Dr Hegazy and his team also met with several British education companies, including Cambridge, Odilo, a digital educational platform, and Appliansys, which specializes in building and designing network appliances, to discuss possible cooperation opportunities in the field of education technology.
Commenting on EWF, Minister of Education and Technical Education Dr Reda Hegazy said he was pleased to have participated in the Education World Forum 2023, stressing that his participation “in this important forum, which includes nearly 120 ministers from different countries of the world, comes within the framework of the Egyptian state’s keenness to exchange expertise and experiences with different countries on the development of the educational system.” He also praised the role of the British Council in Egypt in building effective cooperation between education ministers in various countries around the world.
