Egyptian developer SODIC has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Finnish British Consortium for Investment and Development (FBC) and Finnish Global Education Solutions (FGES) to establish the first Finnish British school in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The agreement was signed in Helsinki, Finland in the presence of Egyptian Ambassador to Finland Haitham Salah; Marjaana Sall, the Ambassador for Education at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland; Risto Vahanen, the Chairperson of the Finnish Global Education Solution; Jouni Kangasniemi, the Programme Director of Education Finland; SODIC's Managing Director Magued Sherif; as well as Karim Al-Safty, the CEO of the FBC. Magued Sherif said: "We are extremely excited to be bringing world-class education to our project, SODIC East. It is an honour to be the first developer to bring this very strong combination of Finnish British education to not only Egypt but the whole MENA region, offering our residents the very best in the realm of education." Ranked first globally, the Finnish system applies phenomenon-based learning, where students study topics holistically in lieu of the traditional subject-based learning. The agreement entails the development of a Finnish British School (FBS) in SODIC East — SODIC's flagship development in New Heliopolis in East Cairo that spans 655 feddans. Planned as an integrated mixed-use development, the FBS will serve to anchor SODIC East, serving its 8,000 families as well as the larger catchment area of East Cairo. Developed over 20,000 sqm, the FBS is themed as a sports focused school that will also benefit from SODIC East's Club S and its full array of facilities and will begin operating in 2023. On his part, Karim Al-Safty said: "Today's signing with leading real estate developer SODIC marks a very important milestone in the FBC's endeavour to establish six Finnish British schools and an international university in Egypt, with an initial investment cost of EGP 1.2bn." The first Finnish British school in the MENA region is associated with ESPOO International School in Finland, a leading international Finnish school with 20 years of experience in implementing the Finnish National Core and IB MYP curriculum. The FBS will implement Finnish pedagogy by Finnish principals and teachers of different international backgrounds, with learning administered in English. ESPOO will also provide learners and teachers exchange programmes, exchanges on best practices, shared studies, competitions, and mentorship on implementing the IB system. Accredited by The Finnish National Agency for Education, FGES was established in response to the Finnish government's call to propagate the Finnish education system worldwide with the support of the Finnish Ministry of Education; the FBS will, as such, be run under the supervision of the agency. Jouni Kangasniemi said: "As the entity responsible for setting the educational strategies that have successfully positioned Finland's education system as one of the world's best international educational systems, the FGES is very excited about this endeavour. We fully support this partnership, which we view as a culmination of educational cooperation between Egypt and Finland."
