Minister of Planning and Economic Development Reviews Education Sector Targets in the Next Fiscal Year Plan

H.E. Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, discussed the draft law of the Economic and Social Development Plan for the fiscal year 2024/2025 during a meeting of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Hani Ser El-Din, and attended by Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development, along with members of the council.

During the discussion, Dr. Hala El Said outlined the targets of the 2024/2025 fiscal year plan for the pre-university education sector, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the availability and quality of pre-university education services. This involves expanding the availability of distinguished schools and applied schools to cover more governorates, expanding partnerships with the private sector, and directing investments to establish new classrooms to address overcrowding issues, particularly in densely populated governorates. Additionally, investments will be directed towards primary schools, with an emphasis on maintenance allocations within the state budget to enhance the quality of the educational process. Furthermore, ambitious plans will be implemented to reduce illiteracy rates, focusing on Upper Egypt governorates, and recruiting 150,000 teachers to ensure quality education and efficient operation of new schools, especially in primary education, with a focus on priority governorates.

El Said also highlighted the goal of reducing classroom density, particularly in primary education (53 students per class), aiming to reach 30 students per class by 2030.

Regarding the targets for pre-university education in 2024/2025, El Said mentioned the establishment of 16,000 new classrooms, the development of 3,500 existing schools, the replacement and renovation of 13,000 classrooms, as well as the development of 200 existing schools in the vocational education sector.

In higher education, El Said explained that the previous year witnessed an expansion in the establishment of several universities, both public and private. Looking ahead, she discussed the determinants of the next fiscal year's plan, including enhancing the competitiveness of higher education through incentives to encourage private sector investment in establishing more private universities. Additionally, there will be an increased focus on projects to enhance the quality and international competitiveness of Egyptian public universities. The expansion of technological universities will also continue to cover more governorates in partnership with the private sector. Other targets include increasing the number of international students and completing electronic examinations at Egyptian universities.

Dr. Hala El Said emphasized the importance of linking higher education outputs with the labor market, expanding the establishment of technological universities, with the target of establishing 19 new universities by 2026/2027, covering 67% of governorates, compared to the current situation in 2023/2024, which includes 9 technological universities covering 33% of governorates.