The Egyptian government has engaged in a number of programmes to foster lifelong learning strategies for its people.
They include:
Find out more here about Egypt’s lifelong learning institutions, including the Arab Open University in Egypt, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, the Labour University in Egypt and the Egyptian Banking Institute.
The Egyptian government wanted to improve the country’s ability to compete in the global economy by equipping citizens and businesses with the technology skills they needed to succeed. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) worked with the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) to develop a national e-learning education centre and a comprehen¬sive e-learning curriculum to address critical skills gaps in Egypt.
Today, the E-Learning Competence Centre (ELCC) serves as the central vehicle in Egypt for bridging the gap among Egyptian small-medium businesses, knowledge workers, and the global economy. It equips young Egyptian professionals with the cutting-edge business and technology skills they need to help their businesses become more efficient, productive and competitive.
In the two years since the centre has been fully operational, ELCC has trained a core development team to create the e-learning curriculum, and has delivered the Business Essentials basic technology and networking course to more than 500 Egyptian professionals. The centre has also established local academies across the country, and has developed and rolled out custom executive training courses for Egyptian SMEs.
Today, the ELCC has a team of developers creating Arabic courses to serve the needs of Egypt and other countries in the region, and to provide a model for ICT skills development for all of North Africa and the Middle East. Based on the lessons learned through the Business Essentials pilot, Cisco and ELCC have also worked together to create a new, localised version for Egyptian SMEs.
Within Egypt, the ELCC is a core component of the Egyptian Education Initiative . The initiative, sponsored by the World Economic Forum, is designed to transform pre-university, higher education, and professional lifelong learning throughout the country, and serve as a catalyst for the social and economic development of Egyptian citizens.
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Aware of the vital importance of education as a driver of the economy, the Egyptian government has long made educational reform a priority. A major component of this reform involves the use of technology in education to stimulate student-based learning. Working closely with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education, MCIT is strategically planning for best utilisation of ICT in education through a number of projects, the most notable of which is the Egyptian Education Initiative.
The Egyptian education system has progressed through several phases of development as ICT is incorporated. The initial rolling out phase focused on getting computers into institutions, limited professional development of teachers and software development. This was followed by pilot schemes to integrate ICT into the work of schools and educational institutions based on the overall strategic directions of these institutions.
The current focus is on ensuring that the policy for ICT in education is integrated with overall educational policy. This is particularly important as evidence suggests that practice in educational institutions remains a mixture of the old and the new, and that there has not yet been a significant transformation in the way learning occurs in these institutions and in society.
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The Egyptian Education Initiative (EEI) is a public-private partnership between the Egyptian government, the World Economic Forum’s IT community and various multinationals. The initiative supports Egypt’s overall education reform efforts and maximises the potential for collaborative partnership to achieve its goals.
The main objectives of the EEI are:
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To improve the development and delivery of education for Egypt’s citizens, thereby accelerating the implementation of educational reform |
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To raise the quality and effectiveness of education and training in Egypt |
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To develop the skills needed for the knowledge society |
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To provide education and training to a wider sector of the populace |
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To prepare all school and university students for the digital workforce by enhancing their creativity and that of their teachers through the effective use of ICT |
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To leverage this environment of national government commitment and corporate citizenship to build a model of educational reform that can be exported and replicated throughout the Arab region. |
The EEI is divided into four tracks: pre-university, higher education, lifelong learning and ICT industry development.
Lifelong learning is an essential part of the MCIT training and education strategy. Through this component, MCIT aims to complete an assessment of existing Egyptian lifelong learning infrastructure and content, to develop e-learning content for lifelong learning and to implement a pilot project delivering localised content for lifelong learning.
It also seeks to establish a connected learning community that creates educational experiences and opportunities for 21st-century learners to realise their full potential.
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The AOU offers a variety of open learning courses, including business administration, IT and computing, and English language and literature.
SAMS offers business-related courses, including business administration, production and operation, personnel administration and behavioural sciences, managerial law, public and local administration, economics, accounting, languages, computer and information systems, and maths, statistics and insurance.
SAMS’ central mission is to enhance the profession of management by advancing the study of management and enriching the professional development of its students and clients. It is also committed to shaping the future of managerial research and development. SAMS is mainly engaged in education, consultancy, training, and research.
The Egyptian Banking Institute aims to lead and inspire, through excellence in training and research, the development of technical and managerial skills of financial service professionals in Egypt and the surrounding region. It develops and adopts international best practices in all its training and research endeavours.
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