Education: the Best Investment - A British Egyptian Education Conference
28 September 2012
On 18 and 19 September 2012, the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) at SOAS, University of London, joined forces with Cairo University to host a conference entitled Education: the Best Investment simultaneously in London and Cairo.
The conference, initiated and funded by the British Egyptian Society in London, invited a wide range of speakers from Egypt and the UK to examine the experiences of both countries in education and training with the intention of developing initiatives for future collaborative projects.
The conference drew support from several other institutions including the Institute of Education (University of London), ESOL (University of Cambridge), Pembroke College (Oxford), The British Council and the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA).
Keen to widen participation to audiences in Cairo and London – and thereby enhance the level of debate – an ambitious format was chosen for the conference. Streamed live in two ways between London and Cairo, each session was enriched by contributions from speakers and moderators in both countries. Senior academics, government ministers and leaders from business and industry in Egypt shared the floor with their counterparts in the UK.
These included:
• Dr Reda Mosaad (First Under Secretary, Ministry of Education, Egypt)
• Professor Hazem El Biblawy (Former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Egypt)
• Mr Alastair Burt (MP and Minister for the Middle East)
• The Rt Hon Baroness Blackstone (Former Minister of State for Education and Employment)
• The Rt Hon Charles Clarke (Former Secretary of State for Education)
• HE Mr Hatem Seif El Nasr (Egyptian Ambassador to the UK), and
• HE Mr James Watt (British Ambassador to Egypt).
An excellent and very frank dialogue between up to 750 participants ensued on the roles of government, business, educational institutions and civil society in achieving progress in improving education and training in both countries. A number of useful ideas and potential projects have been identified as a result of these exchanges and a meeting will be hosted in Cairo in six months time to follow up on these.
Dr Hassan Hakimian, Director of the LMEI said: ‘We were very pleased to host a British Egyptian Society conference for a second time. This was a high-level conference delivered in real time with Cairo, a fact that shows our commitment to, and our focus on, what really matters in the MENA region.’
Speaking from Cairo, Professor Magdy Ishak Hanna, Vice Chairman of the British Egyptian Society, praised those who had contributed to the conference, ‘sharing their knowledge to serve a new generation, whom they may never know or meet.’ He looked forward to the conference bearing fruit, stimulating improvements in education and training in both Egypt and the UK.
For more information on the LMEI, please see www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/
For more information on the BES, please see www.britishegyptiansociety.org.uk/
