Last weekend, the British Council took part in the 25th NileTESOL conference, which is the largest English Language Teachers gathering in the region, for the 11th year in a row. 

The opening of the virtual ceremony of the 25th NileTESOL conference was attended by Tarek Shawki, the Egyptian minister of education, and over a period of two days, the conference recorded over 10,000 participants in the live sessions.

NileTESOL is proudly offered through a partnership between the British Council and the American University in Cairo and seeks to provide opportunities for professional development, networking, and scholarly discussion and debate within the area of English language teaching.

It also aims to promote active involvement and participation by offering opportunities for the exchange of ideas and expertise within this area in Egypt, the Middle East, and worldwide.

This year, the British council sponsored Sophia Mavridi, the renowned expert in learning technologies, as an international speaker. Her plenary talk gave practical ideas on blended learning and attracted 180 participants.

John Shackleton and Hala Ahmed from the British Council also gave a session on strengthening and establishing teachers’ networks in the MENA region, which attracted 170 attendees.

In the conference, Country Director of the British Council in Egypt Elizabeth White said, “NileTESOL has grown over the last 25 years as a result of wider acceptance of the English language as beneficiary and advantageous to those who learn it. This year, we are delighted to continue to share our expertise with public and private sector educators, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.” 

Over the last 10 years, the British Council’s English programmes, connecting classrooms and the National Teacher Training Programme, in partnership with Egypt’s Ministry of Education, provided professional development training to more than 100,000 teachers in Egypt.