Minister of Planning Opens Regional Conference "Education in the Arab World in the Third Millennium"

Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform, inaugurated Saturday the regional conference "Education in the Arab World in the Third Millennium", organized under the auspices of Mr. Mustafa Madbouli, Prime Minister Minister, organized by the National Planning Institute. In the presence of ministers of education, higher education and scientific research and with the participation of representatives of Arab organizations and scientific and research institutions.

For her part, Hala Al-Saeed emphasized that the conference was discussing one of the most important issues facing governments and peoples: embodying the Arab reality and its challenges, and the characteristics of the future we want and need. hope to be more prosperous for future generations, the issue of education.

The issue of education is a global problem that is not limited to the Arab world, where education is the world's main concern as a cornerstone of any effort required to achieve sustainable development. Development for decades, emphasizing that there was a consensus that education is not limited to the impact on the size of the contribution to economic activity, but also extends to the quality of this contribution and its role in increasing productivity.

Hala Al-Saeed emphasized that the efforts of the United Nations to achieve sustainable development pay great attention to education. The fourth objective of the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan, "Ensuring Quality, Equitable and Inclusive Education and Developing Lifelong Learning Opportunities", reflects the global concern over the adoption of A global development program. Achieving this goal calls for the discussion of many education issues and their relationship to the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental.

Stressing the situation in the Arab world, stressing that despite the efforts made by the Arab countries to raise the level of education in accordance with the requirements of development, the return has not yet exceeded the magnitude of the needs and aspirations, where the educational system at the levels of the Arab world and various elements face many challenges.

Al-Saeed pointed out that the Regional Conference on "Education in the Arab World in the Third Millennium" is a very important event, which addresses the problems of education and its challenges in identifying policies and programs and examine the results obtained in order to determine precisely the roles needed to draw a roadmap. Arab human capital and increase its global competitiveness as a real wealth and cornerstone of efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development of Arab countries.

She added that Arab society was characterized by a young society with a population under 30 reaching about 60%. In the 15-29 age group, the percentage of 15-29 year olds is about 30%, which poses many challenges, to achieve the sustainable growth needed to create jobs and unemployment , which in the Arab countries was about 15% in 2017, was more than double the world average (5.7%), while the youth unemployment rate in the Arab countries was about 29%. %. In the world where the unemployment rate of young women is worsening more and more in Rbia countries by 48%, which is the highest in the world, and I follow the estimates also indicate that the loss of Arab countries because of high youth unemployment rates is estimated at between 40 to 50 billion dollars a year.

The most important is to increase the efficiency of these expenditures in order to support the knowledge economy indicators and to create new generations capable of facing competition in the labor market, with a focus on entrepreneurship programs and promoting a culture of free living among youth and development. Small, medium and small businesses in all Arab countries.

Al-Saeed added that "in light of rapid technological development, the biggest challenge is to be able to provide education for all as a skills-based education and promote innovation, noting that linking the education system and its content and the content of its activities to the development of society is one of the preconditions for the creation of productive and effective learning experiences. To do this, students must be encouraged to find innovative solutions to existing development problems in their communities, and then to the outside world to participate in finding solutions to global problems. The hope of knowledge in one area can only relate it to other disciplines especially in light of the rapid evolution of science and the mutual influences between different knowledge.

Al-Saeed said that successive developments require a revolution in education and a rapid transition to the knowledge society through supportive social systems that assume an effective role for the teacher, society and society. the learning environment, which will enable future leaders to formulate and implement sustainable development policies in all their dimensions. In support of the sustainability of development for future generations, emphasizing that with the technological and technical advances and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, applications and digitization, of many professions are not needed in their traditional form. Already exists.

The Minister of Planning stressed that the attention given to education was a top priority for the Egyptian State, within the framework of a more general and comprehensive orientation defined by the Government. , under the direction and mandate of the President of the Republic, to increase investment in the human being and to achieve the strategic goal of the construction of the being Egyptian. Egypt and its vision of a comprehensive and sustainable development.

She also highlighted the overall vision and concept adopted by the Egyptian State in the field of human development and investment in the human being.It should be noted that the state seeks to train the Egyptian people in all its aspects, be it in the fields of education, health, culture or sport. Local and international.

She emphasized that the Government's work program included a comprehensive strategy for the development of education, both public and technical, to improve the quality of the education system in accordance with international systems, to provide education for all. and to improve the competitiveness of education systems and products adapted to the needs of the labor market. Education covers all aspects of the educational process, from the rehabilitation of schools and the development of curricula and assessment systems, as well as the establishment of a technological infrastructure in public and technical education. .

She explained that the government work program for the four years (2018-2022) identified a number of major programs and subprogrammes for the development of the pre-university education system, through the development of the training and capacity development of education officials at different career levels, noting that 164,000 teachers had already been trained in the early years. On the new education system in the first semester of the current year 18/2019, the number of teachers exceeded 107,000 teachers in addition to the training of 221,500 teachers under the project "teachers first" of the total goal for the current year is 500,000 teachers and 79.6 million teachers. One thousand trainees under industrial training programs J cooperate in the implementation of a number of Egyptian ministries.

Regarding the program of education for all without discrimination, Al-Saeed said that it included the development of the establishment of applied technical schools: in the first half of this year, 3 Schools were created out of a total of 185 schools during the 18/2019 year. The program also plans to support and encourage partnerships with the private sector. And the creation of schools in factories and holdings During the first half of the year, 8 partnerships were concluded on the total goal of 50 partnerships, in addition to the creation of clubs and colleges. FABLAB innovation in the provinces, which led to the establishment of 2 clubs during the first half of the total goal of 14 clubs during the 18/2019 fiscal year.

Al-Saeed said that the government's work program included in the field of higher education a number of main and secondary programs, the most important of which was the program of development of technical education. The first half of this year was marked by the creation of four technical institutes, while the government work program (18/2022) pursues its objectives. 8 technological universities.

The Minister of Planning said that the state was employing to increase public investment for the education sector, which amounted to 28.9 billion pounds for the year. current year 18/2019, accounting for 7% of the total public investments of the year, compared to 26.4 billion pounds the year before. 17/2018) with an increase of 10%, indicating that the first half of this year was marked by the completion of the implementation of a large number of investment projects in the sector of education, which included the completion of the development and expansion of 296 schools comprising a total of 4639 chapters, for a total cost of 1.87 billion pounds.

"We are convinced that a good education system can be the fruit of economic development efforts, but we are also convinced that education is also a seed for development," she said. declared. Level of education in Arab countries.

The participation of the Arab Planning Institute in Kuwait, the League of Arab States, the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science (ALECSO) and the National Institute of Planning in the organization of this regional conference is the best proof of the importance of education and its role in achieving the most ambitious goals. And the development of Arab human capital in the position it deserves. She emphasized the need to seize the opportunity of the conference to exchange views and experiences and to offer appropriate visions and solutions to policy makers to help launch Arab countries into know. Contribute and support the achievement of sustainable development goals that meet the aspirations of the Arab peoples.