File Photo: Egyptian high school students wear protective face masks as they attend the first day of final exams, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2020. (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's finance and education ministries announced on Thursday the commencement of the second phase of the national project to build and operate 1,000 distinguished language schools according to the public-private partnerships (PPP) system.
Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said the project targets providing a distinguished educational service to middle-income categories that is higher than that at official experimental schools, albeit with tuition fees less than at private language schools.
The second phase, which will begin on Sunday, focuses on building and operating 98 distinguished language schools in the governorates of Minya, South Sinai, Sohag, Aswan, Luxor, and Beni Suef, as well as Suez Canal cities, said Education Minister Tarek Shawki.
The project's first phase included the building of up to 54 schools, most of which will go into service across 16 governorates as of the current school year that will start on Saturday, Shawki pointed out.
Maait said progress on the project is being intensified, being one of the requirements for education development owing to its significance in creating new learning types via ameliorating students' creativity and innovation skills and talents.
The joint statement added that companies and consortiums wishing to take part in the project will be invited to apply for prequalification documents. Upon their completion, the documents will be reviewed by a ministry unit to examine the technical, financial, and legal conditions of the applicants to ensure they can complete the competition in a global tender for the project, Maait added.
The statement did not mention a date for the tender.
Maait said a number of ministries have been addressed to inform his ministry of the projects targeted to be implemented in the next five years to study the possibility of carrying them out under the PPP system.
"The state pays special attention to the expansion of infrastructure development projects, utilities, and public services based on the PPP system, to improve people's living conditions," he said.
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