Egypt’s Minister of Planning, USAID Funded Project “Workforce Egypt “discuss steps to establish a platform for sectoral skills councils.

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, met recently with representatives of the Workforce Egypt project and representatives of USAID and MTC International Development.

At the meeting, the next steps to establish the Egyptian sector skills council platform were discussed.

The meeting witnessed the presence of Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning. Kamal Nasr, Assistant Minister for Technical Office Affairs. Dr. Hanan Nazir, Director of the Labor Market Policies Unit. Dr. Dina Kafafi, Advisor to the Minister for Structural Reforms.

During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said stressed that technical education can play a major role in qualifying a large number of young people and providing them with the skills and capabilities that allow them to meet the needs of the labor market and the skills required in the context of digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This is done by preparing graduates with a high level of education, who have high technical skills and can deal with modern technology.

El-Said indicated the concerted efforts of all state institutions to upgrade the technical education and vocational training system, in line with the plans and directions of the Egyptian state and its efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development.

Foremost among them is the National Program for Structural Reforms, which includes a main axis aimed at raising the efficiency and flexibility of the labor market, developing the technical education and vocational training system, as well as activating the role of the private sector, achieving compatibility between the supply and demand sides of the labor market, and supporting the empowerment of women, youth, and people with special abilities.

El-Said said that the ministry is providing the appropriate institutional framework to establish and develop an umbrella to support the establishment of sectoral skills councils as platforms aimed at improving the efficiency of the labor market, as well as contributing to ensuring the quality of educational and training services provided.

The Ministry is also working on developing a system for the governance of sectoral skills councils that ensures their financial and technical sustainability in the long term. This is done in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education and all concerned authorities.

Representatives of the Egypt Workforce Project reviewed the project's objectives and action steps. This is because the project aims to prepare and qualify trainees for the labor market. This is done by preparing students for the labor market, and for jobs that require specialized skills in the private sector.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Egypt Manpower Project to establish the first platform for sectoral skills councils that would be an umbrella for all skills councils in Egypt and coordinate between skills councils in all sectors, to raise the efficiency of the Egyptian labor market.