Education in Egypt

Egypt has the largest pre-university education system in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with over 25 million students. The country places high priority on education through the constitutional provision for compulsory and free basic education and government spending for pre-university education – no less than 4% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

While the education in Egypt has improved in recent years, systemic challenges include low performance – only 19% of grade 4 students demonstrate foundational reading skills and 29% for math – insufficient classroom space to accommodate the current student population, and 1.5 million out-of-school children.

Egypt aims to ensure universal access to high-quality education and training, foundational learning for all and skills for the sustainable future.

As part of Egypt’s overarching Strategic Vision 2030, the government has developed a five-year education sector plan (ESP) for reforming the education system, structured around four policy priority pillars:

• Access and participation
• Quality of learning and teaching
• Equity and inclusion
• Governance and management of the system.

Across all pillars is a focus on digital transformation as well as a strong teacher workforce. The ESP has been independently appraised and endorsed by education development partners in Egypt.

As part of its investment in civil society advocacy and social accountability efforts, GPE’s Education Out Loud fund is supporting Egyptians without borders foundation for the 2020-2023 period.

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