‘I have benefited a lot from it, there are some perspectives that have refined in my mind on some topics such as culture, social and religious diversity, and how to understand others in a better way.’ - EID student
Life cycle
2007 - present
Country/Region
Egypt
Client/Partner
British Council, Al-Azhar, British Embassy, private donors
Vision
More widespread knowledge and better understanding of English language worldwide, empowering people to access global opportunities and build international connections.
Situation
Al-Azhar is a global leader in Islamic thinking and is widely recognised as a moderate voice within the community. Our partnership with Al-Azhar started in 2007, initiated at the request of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the then President of the University. The idea was to support the Al-Azhar University in setting up an English language training centre for students at the Faculty of Islamic Studies.
Implementation
Our partnership has evolved since the project started. Today our work together involves five strands:
- supporting Al-Azhar English Training Centre in Cairo to provide quality English language lessons,
- supporting Al-Azhar English Training Centre – Luxor to empower young females in remote areas,
- providing Al-Azhar university students and teachers with needed skills to engage in interfaith and intercultural dialogue through the English for Interfaith dialogue programme,
- building the capacity of Al-Azhar to support the professional development of their primary and secondary school teachers
Impact
- (37) teachers from the Al-Azhar English Training Centre have been trained in English language pedagogy and the EID curriculum to support students from Al-Azhar university. Over (2,756) Azhari students studied at the English Training Centre; whereby (1,113) graduated with (72%) graduating at B1/B2 CEFR level.
- (292) students graduated from the English for Interfaith Dialogue (EID) pilot programme with positive feedback. (82) schoolteachers have studied EID online modules.
- (228) teacher educators were trained as Teacher Activity Group (TAG) facilitators, who then cascaded training to (5,827) Azhari school teachers across Egypt (1,027 face to face and 4,800 virtually) between 2019 – 2021
- (222) teacher educators were trained through the new national programme Teach. Engage. Aspire. who facilitated TAGs to (5,269) teachers country-wide.
- A new English Training Centre is opened in Luxor to empower young females in Upper Egypt with (277) undergrad young women currently studying and a prospect to serve the whole (6,000) students at the Girls’ College in Tiba.
Mutual benefit
Our partnership with Al-Azhar facilitates mutually beneficial people-to-people and institution-to-institution dialogue. This aligns closely with our cultural relations mission, recognising the value that dialogue has in building friendly knowledge and engendering trust between people of the UK and other countries.
By developing the capacity and provision of English education systems at Al-Azhar and providing world-class opportunities to study abroad and engage with different faith groups, the partnership supported Azhari aspirations and ambitions to further its goals for transnational and intercultural connectivity.