Shedding the light on the UK international education in Egypt and the British Council’s role in supporting schools delivering UK qualifications, the British Council held its 9th annual Principals’ Forum event under the theme ‘Back to School’ with representatives from the Ministry of Education, British Council and school leaders from the British Council’s partner schools.
The forum started with an opening speech from Elizabeth White, Director British Council Egypt, followed by a speech from Iman Sabry, Head of Private and International schools, Ministry of Education, leading up to a series of sessions and highlights from the British Council around 2020/21 academic year.
Starting with a strong base, the preliminary session at the forum focused on “Developing Character Education in Schools” where Mark Salter, a National Strategy Teaching and Learning Consultant, delved deeply into one of UK’s recent education research that shows how a structural approach can play a key part of the character development for young learners.
The sessions were then followed by key highlights presented by Director Exams Egypt, Fakhar Jaffery. And when one would think that Covid-19 would exacerbate the situation for vulnerable people, enters the British Council to support in 2021; over 260 cases of special consideration – cases where candidates needed additional support to take exams such as braille, large fonts and we accommodated a case of one hospitalized student. Strengthening the fact that ensuring our students can access higher education is inextricably linked to our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at the British Council.
Elizabeth White, Director British Council Egypt said: “With ingenuity and drive, and with the support of our awe-inspiring network of school leaders, we are proud to have delivered more than 100,000 tests since the start of the year in Egypt, carried out assessments in 12 governorates, covering 70 venues consisting of over 1360 classrooms where exams were conducted securely – but even more importantly, we delivered what we promised – a safe examination experience during a worldwide pandemic, while keeping up to UK standards, setting the British Council as a benchmark for UK international education, building back better after COVID-19.”
Iman Sabry, Head of Private and International schools, Ministry of Education said: “As we are starting a new year, and fully going back to schools, COVID-19 protocols have become the new norm that we have to adjust to and deal with creatively and efficiently, keeping our students’ best interests at the core and heart of our mission. Throughout the process, the British Council kept all communications channel open with all stakeholders; Ministry of Education, UK awarding bodies and the schools leaders. It was through this consistent communication that all our partners worked together, succeeding in delivering world class options for our students.”
The Principals’ Forum is a British Council event that brings together school leaders to network and engage in training and discussions on UK qualifications. The British Council supports its partner schools through the Examinations team with administrative and operative roles as it liaises between awarding bodies and two Egyptian Ministries; Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, ensures the integrity of the exams system at every stage, supports with teachers’ development and activities to enhance educational knowledge, provides updates from Ministries, and connects schools with the latest teaching and learning techniques.
