Egypt and Japan agreed to exert more effort towards achieving the targets of the mutual cooperation agreement in the education sector, despite the challenges imposed by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This came during the sixth meeting of the Steering Committee of Egypt-Japan Education Partnership (EJEP), which was held on 4 April between the Egyptian and Japanese sides, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by Tarek Shawki, Egypt’s minister of education and technical education, who also moderated the discussions; Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, minister of higher education and scientific research; Nevine El-Qabbag, minister of social solidarity; and the Secretary-General of the Committee, Hany Helal, Egypt’s former Minister of Higher Education.

The Japanese side was represented by Ambassador Noke Masaki, ambassador of Japan to Egypt; Matsunaga Hideki, director general of JICA Middle East and Europe Department, who is currently visiting Egypt; and Omura Yoshifumi, the chief representative of JICA Egypt Office; in addition to a number of representatives and government officials from both sides.

During the meeting, both sides reviewed the progress of the different ongoing projects under the partnership, including the Egypt-Japan Schools “EJS”, the human resources development and scholarship programs to Japan, Egypt-Japan University for Science and Technology “E-JUST”, technical education, and early childhood development projects, said JICA.

Both sides acknowledged the achieved progress and the strength of the partnership between Egypt and Japan in the field of education, which includes many successful models of cooperation and is privileged with support from the highest political leadership.

EJEP was launched by the leaders of both countries in 2016 and covers all the stages of education in Egypt, contributing to the continuous governmental reforms in this important area.

The Steering Committee, as well as the two Executive Committees of EJEP (EC1 & EC2) were established by a presidential decree, and they are held periodically to execute decisions, approvals, and review of the joint cooperation between Egypt and Japan.

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