- Professor Robin Grimes, Chief Scientific Officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, leads senior delegation of British education experts on a week-long visit to Egypt.
- Visit centrepiece will be high-level dialogue between British and Egyptian higher education experts, aimed at creating a more independent, internationalised, and better quality higher education in Egypt.
- British Ambassador John Casson heralds UK-Egyptian partnership on higher education: “Together we will give many future generations of young Egyptians the opportunities and skills they need to fulfil their potential.”
This week, the UK will signal its determination to support reform and innovation in Egyptian higher education, an initiative that has the potential to transform the sector in Egypt and unlock opportunities for generations of young Egyptians.
Professor Robin Grimes, Chief Scientific Officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will lead a week-long visit of a senior delegation of British education experts that include Claire Durkin, Director of International Science and Innovation at the UK’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills as well as senior representatives of UK higher education agencies and the leaders of 15 British universities.
Professor Grimes and the delegation will visit Cairo and Alexandria to meet Egyptian counterparts including the Supreme Council of Universities institutions such as the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Alexandria University, Ain Shams University, the Borg El Arab City of Scientific Research & Technological Applications, amongst others.
The centrepiece of the visit will be a high-level policy dialogue on educational reform. British and Egyptian experts will discuss practical ways of building a more independent, internationalised, and better higher education system that will benefit generations of young Egyptians.
Education is at the heart of the UK-Egypt relationship. That was true in 1938 when the British Council opened our doors to the people of Egypt and it is true today. Strong Higher Education systems and World class Science, Research and Innovation are the engines of prosperity, which can help the whole of society. This Forum brings together people and institutions from our two countries to advance this cause. It is good for Britain and good for Egypt.”
Jeff Streeter, Director of the British Council in Egypt
The visit marks an important step in the British Council in Egypt’s international higher education programme, which began in 2011. The programme forms one part of the UK’s wide-ranging support to young people in Egypt. For example, the UK recently launched the Newton-Mosharafa science and innovation fund worth £20m over five years and this year tripled funding for Chevening, the UK’s flagship postgraduate scholarship programme. The British Council in Egypt, furthermore, supports leadership and skills development, as well as helping 75,000 Egyptians secure a UK qualification or learn English every year.
British Ambassador John Casson said: “The UK is the education nation, home to three of the top ten universities in the world. British universities and research institutions lead the world in cutting-edge science and research. This week we are bringing together that great British excellence in universities and innovation with Egyptian’s serious and determined desire for educational reform. Our joint work will transform the higher education sector in Egypt. Together we will help many future generations of young Egyptians unleash their potential and we will equip them with the skills they need to help transform their country.”