Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi dismissed the allegations of "militarizing civil positions" by requiring applicants for new positions in ministries such as education, finance, transportation, and religious endowments to undergo tests at the military academy. He said that the tests are meant to evaluate and train the candidates for their skills, affiliations, and readiness to serve their country. The President made these remarks at the Egypt Universities Excellence Day on Tuesday, in the presence of the heads of universities at the Suez Canal University. He said that the rumors and lies about the state militarizing teachers or other civil employees who receive training and qualifications at the Egyptian Military Academy are baseless. He said that the Ministry of Education announced the acceptance of teachers in the basic education stage through its website and that the military academy provides them with a six-month program to select and prepare them well for their positions. He said that the program includes sports and early wake-up routines, which will help the teachers to be more disciplined and committed. He added that he would do the same for all state institutions if he could, as the administrative apparatus of the state needs to be more capable of delivering. He also called on the government to pay attention to the culture of learning in Egypt and to consider the people's willingness to accept and endure the changes in the education system. The President also discussed the plans of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to establish 200 IPS schools during the current five-year plan. He said that he was not interested in the five-year plan and that he suggested a different approach of collaborating with the private sector to work on these schools together. He asked the Minister of Education and Higher Education about the cost of building a school and estimated that it would be around EGP 15bn for 3,000 classrooms. President Al-Sisi said that education needs significant improvement, and announced plans to establish 100 schools within a year, with the support of the Tahya Misr Fund. He said that the schools will be built on available lands, and will provide quality education for the students. The president also said that there is no need for a large number of graduates from faculties such as law, commerce, and humanities, as the job market does not require them. He said that there is a shortage of workers in other sectors, such as digitalization, which is in high demand both locally and internationally. Al-Sisi noted that graduates from certain majors face limited or no job opportunities, while the field of digitalization needs hundreds of thousands of professionals. He urged the government and the private sector to invest in digitalization and to train the youth in the skills needed for the future.
