Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the chairperson of the Heliopolis Association, visited on Thursday, 9 December, two public schools in the southern governorate of Luxor. Both the Om El-Moemenin for Girls and the Suzanne Mubarak Primary schools have been completely torn down due to their poor condition and were rebuilt according to national and international standards.

The two schools were rebuilt as part of the 100-schools project aimed at developing schools at all of Egypt’s governorates. Mrs. Mubarak pointed out that more than 160 schools have already been developed and revamped in Luxor and that by the end of next year all of the governorate’s schools will be refurbished. “The renovation did not only happen to the buildings, but the surrounding areas and districts have been also restored. Training courses have been provided to school teachers and headmasters in order to coincide with the development process,” Mrs. Mubarak added.

Now, classrooms in both schools contain smart boards and the school facilities include computer labs, clinics and well-equipped chemistry labs. Mrs. Mubarak told the press that “students of both schools will join the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (SMWIPM) in order to raise their awareness about the dangers of human trafficking, and in turn they will play a pivotal role in increasing people’s awareness about the hazards of this dangerous problem which affects certain sectors of our society.”

Last month, Mrs. Mubarak inaugurated 60 schools at Esna and Armant in Luxor governorate. The move is a part of the second phase of the 100-schools project in the governorate. She further stated that the overall number of developed schools at the governorate is 167 schools, and explained that “the project of enhancing these schools began ten months ago and was implemented in two phases. The first phase included enhancing 107 schools and the second phase included the 60 schools of Esna and Armant.”

Initially, the initiative targeted upgrading 100 schools in Cairo, but was later adopted as a national project to improve at least 100 schools at each governorate. “Our project aims to develop schools, not only through upgrading school buildings but also through developing school curriculums, teaching methods and libraries to improve children’s capabilities and make students computer-literate,” Mrs. Mubarak said.