The Canadian embassy in Egypt is organising Canadian education sessions on 16 and 17 February, during which a number of Canada's leading educational institutions will be encouraging Egyptian students to study in Canada. How can the country benefit from them? Every year, we try to hold sessions with a number of Canadian educational organisations at the university and college level to make it easier for Egyptian students and parents to get a sense of the kind of education available in Canada. The sessions are essentially orientation sessions for the participating Canadian educational institutions, featuring short presentations on the programmes offered by these organisations. Though there is a relatively small group of eight Canadian institutions participating, they're quite representative of the over 125 universities and technical colleges in Canada. The sessions will take place over two days, and we have people coming from Canada for this. This is not the first time we have held such an event, but we're trying to improve the format this time round. Last year, we held an education fair, but due to the downtown location that was affected by nearby disruptions some people were hesitant about coming. How long has the Canadian embassy been organising such events and what impact have they had thus far? We started the events in 2002. We estimate that there are over a thousand Egyptian students studying in Canada per year at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Why should an Egyptian student choose a Canadian university? There are a variety of important reasons to choose Canada for tertiary education. First of all, there are a large number of Canadian institutions, so there is a lot of selection. Secondly, the Canadian universities fall under the jurisdiction of the individual provinces' ministries of education so they are heavily regulated. As a result, all Canadian universities are of a very high quality. In other countries, the quality depends on the individual institution. Some universities in Canada are big, some are small, and some are highly specialised, such as in high technology and so forth, but they're all of a very high calibre, and that is something that we are proud of as Canadians. It doesn't matter where you go in Canada; you're going to get a very good education. The second answer to your question is that we have both universities and a very strong component of technical colleges that are focused on providing the kind of advanced technical skills that industry needs. This is a very important part of our capacity, and in Egypt you have a huge need for people with top technical skills. One other point I should stress is that Canada and Canadians are very open and welcoming to foreign students. What would the benefit be for Egypt and Canada to having Egyptian students at Canadian universities? For Egypt, clearly there's a huge population of young people which needs to find good schooling and obviously there is a limit to the availability of higher education here in Egypt. Also, in some cases you don't have the degree of specialisation in Egypt that you might have elsewhere, such as in Canada. So my impression is that there is an obvious need to connect with Canada in terms of what we have to offer. Canadian universities consistently feature among the best universities in the world. From the Canadian perspective, there is a lot for us to gain as well. It is in the interest of Canadian schools and universities to attract people from overseas, partially from a demographic perspective. The Canadian population is not growing as fast as other countries, and as a result there are places in Canadian universities which are no longer filled with Canadians. If we bring people from overseas, this means that those places are filled and tuition fees are paid and go to the university so that it can keep operating at the same level of excellence. Having a significant component of foreign students in Canadian educational institutions also helps Canadians to be more competitive in an increasingly competitive world and helps in creating global networks. Therefore, for these reasons and for many others, it is important for us to have a large number of foreigners at our universities. It really makes sense both for us and for the students from abroad who benefit from a Canadian top-notch education. How much does it cost to study in Canada? Depending on location and programme choices, the annual budget for an international student can range from CND$18,000 to CND$28,500 for tuition fees and living expenses. Obviously, it is more expensive than Egypt, but Canada is definitely cheaper than other countries with comparable education systems, such as the USA and UK. In Canada, we also have excellent health care that foreign students can access at low cost, whereas in other countries it can cost a lot to see a doctor. How is the education system regulated in Canada? In Canada, the provinces are responsible for education. Education at all levels is highly regulated by the provinces and is coordinated among the provinces to make sure that education standards are at the same level. We have ten provinces and three territories in Canada. Will all the Canadian provinces be represented at the education sessions? Not all of them — Canada is a big country. While there will be institutions from only three provinces represented in the sessions, many of those participating are located in the province of Ontario, which is the most populous province in the country. We will also have with us the University of Alberta, which is one of our largest and most renowned universities based in Western Canada, as well as Cape Breton University, which is a smaller university in Atlantic Canada that has strong ties to an Egyptian university, the Canadian International College (CIC) here in Cairo. How can students participate in the sessions? Anyone can join the sessions after informing us and filling in a registration form.
