Library & Research: Success Story

The Egyptian Education Initiative (EEI) was launched to push forward the national educational reform, focusing on guaranteeing access to high-quality education. The challenges addressed by the EEI included overcrowded class rooms, a low teacher-to-student ratio and growing unemployment rates.

The underlying strategy of the Initiative is to increase the effectiveness of the national educational process through the use of ICT. It rests on the firm belief that ICTs stimulate learning skills; have the potential provides equitable, high-quality education for learners despite the large numbers, locations and special needs; and can transform teaching and learning into interactive experiences. Greater use of ICTs will also advance the efforts to foster a knowledge-based society in Egypt.

The strategic objective of the EEI focuses on increasing access to technology, enhancing teaching/learning skills using ICTs and the provision of learning anywhere, any time.

To achieve these objectives, the EEI model presents an integrated solution-comprising infrastructure, professional development, and provision of digital content and applications – addressing all stakeholders and promoting active learning to empower schools and communities through ICTs.

 Public-private partnerships (PPP) are key elements in the Government of Egypt’s (GoE) strategy for delivering modern telecom infrastructures and e- services, as well as in promoting Egypt’s competitiveness. The PPP represents a cooperative venture between the public and private sectors, built on mutual expertise, to meet clearly defined public needs through the appropriate allocation of resources, risks and rewards.

The public sector benefits from extra resources coming from the private sector in terms of innovation, project management, performance measurement and technical expertise. The private sector benefits from a strengthened position and reputation within society and the opportunity to innovate and test new products and services. In the education sector, the GoE views the PPP as a tool to speed up the change process, helping public educational institutions to compete and to provide improved services to the different stakeholders.

The EEI’s multi-stakeholder partnership between various private sector companies has yielded a solid integrated platform. Each company proposed contributions independently, with no pressure, via a well-designed contribution matrix, and the EEI combined these contributions to form a solid whole. A transparent governance system was a vital component in managing the partnership to guarantee maximum efficiency. Several bodies helped to achieve this objective, including a Project Management Office (PMO), the Steering Committee, the Advisory Board, and the Executive Board chaired by H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the First Lady of Egypt.