Egyptian Minister of Education and Technical Education Reda Hegazy, officials from Egyptian Ministry of Education of the and the Ambassador of Italy to Cairo Michele Quaroni during their meeting on Monday 27 March, 2023. Photo courtesy of Egyptian Cabinet Facebook page.
The initiative, which will start with the seventh grade curriculum, aims to enhance cultural ties and promote greater understanding and cooperation between Egypt and Italy, according to a statement released by the education ministry.
It is part of a broader initiative to enhance middle school education by offering students the option to learn several foreign languages, including French and German.
Minister Hegazy praised in his meeting with Ambassador Quaroni today the historical cooperation between Egypt and Italy in developing education.
He also praised the long-standing partnership represented by the Italian Don Bosco schools and the integrated technological education institutes such as Fayoum and Abu Ghaleb.
On 22 March, the Russian Ministry of Education has announced that the Russian language will be offered as a second foreign language in Egypt's schools and universities. The Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education has not, however, announced the academic year in which the language will be offered to students.
The decision to introduce Russian in Egypt's schools came a few days after a similar decision to include French as a "compulsory" second language in Egyptian public schools for students in the first year of middle school and above by the 2024/2025 academic year.
In September 2022, Deputy Minister of Education and Technical Education Mohamed Megahed announced that 12 preparatory schools in three governorates will offer Chinese as an optional second language in the upcoming 2023/2024 academic year.
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