Tarek Shawky, the Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education, has met with Elena Panova, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, to address the long-standing cooperation of both sides in the education sector. They addressed different files to enhance the current and potential areas of cooperation that ensure the continuous collaboration in addressing quality education for all young generations living in Egypt. They discussed joint cooperation in supporting the national efforts to reform the education system in Egypt, with a special focus on the Education 2.0 strategy, and addressed multiple areas to expand potential cooperation to support the Ministry's efforts in national reform programs, foremost of which is the "Decent Life" initiative. They exchanged views about targeted interventions aimed at raising the quality of education services at the level of Egyptian villages, as well as talking about potential areas to support the Ministry's plans to build smart classrooms at the national level as part of the transition towards achieving digital education and improving skills-based learning. At the beginning of the meeting, Shawky praised the important role played by the United Nations in supporting the Egyptian educational sector, and the importance of continuing work between the two sides on the basis of partnership, cooperation and transparency to serve the educational process. Shawky pointed out that education is a learning journey where students should enjoy learning during this journey, stressing on the importance of digital transformation in this educational journey. He highlighted the importance of the teachers' mastery of the process and the necessity of acquisition of skills to achieve this mission. He also highlighted how to benefit from educational grants, and integrating the principles of 'education from for sustainable development' in all types of education, whether (formal school education, or non-formal education "community education"), which contributes to correcting any imbalance and treating it in a sound and clear manner. Panova expressed her appreciation for the great and comprehensive development witnessed by the education system in Egypt under the leadership of Shawky, and commented, "Egypt has taken serious transformative measures through embracing Education 2.0 strategy. It showed real improvement in the education system that guarantees access to quality digital learning and skills for people living in Egypt." She added. "We appreciate the progress made in the education sector in Egypt as the success of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals depends on the reform undertaken in Education." It is worth mentioning that the United Nations in Egypt works closely with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education in supporting the national efforts to reform the education system in Egypt in cooperation with several United Nations agencies in Egypt, including UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, WFP, ILO, UNIDO, IOM, and others. This cooperation includes variety of files such as supporting the accessibility of students to high quality education, addressing the drop out of students, supporting the national efforts in upgrading the physical infrastructure of schools and community schools, in addition to providing technical support in the development of the educational curricula that embed digital and skills-based education with a special focus on supporting the technical education sector. The meeting was attended by both Sherine Hamdi, Minister's Advisor for Administrative Development and Supervisor of the Central Administration for the Affairs of the Minister's Office, and Arun Jacob, Economist and Acting Head of the Office of the Resident Coordinator's Office.
