Higher education min. participates in Middle East Thought Leadership Forum

CAIRO – Egyptian Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar told the Middle East Thought Leadership Forum on Tuesday the Egyptian State is keen on increasing the number of educational institutions to include public, private, and technological universities and institutes.

Egypt has 27 public universities, 32 private universities and three technological universities, in addition to six branches of international universities, he noted.

The forum is organised by the General Secretariat of the Association of Arab Universities, virtually, from October 25 to 27, with the participation of the Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities Dr Amr Ezzat Salama.

Education and higher educations ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Mauritania and Yemen participate in the forum.

The minister further noted that his ministry is currently drawing up a strategy for higher education and scientific research in line with the Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS): Egypt Vision 2030.

The strategy will cover several topics, topped by the expansion in establishing higher educational institutions, improving the global rankings of higher educational institutions, internationalisation of university education and curriculum development, Abdel Ghaffar said.

The forum enables opinion leaders in education, including ministers, presidents and directors of educational institutions in the Middle East, to consider and present their views on education now and in the future, in the region in particular, and the world in general.

The challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the creative initiatives and practices that your institutions have developed to overcome these challenges will inform the discussions.

Examples will be shared on how to build on this experience and develop educational systems so that they acquire the strength and flexibility required to reach the highest levels of readiness to be globally competitive in the fields of education, learning and technology.