The Protocol was signed by Dr. Tarek Shawky, Minister of Education and Technical Education, and Karim Najjar, representative of the Volkswagen Group in Egypt, in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Megahed, Deputy Minister of Education for Technical Education Affairs, Dr. Amr Bassila, Head of the Central Administration for the Development of Technical Education and Director of the Applied Technology Schools Administration Unit, and a number of Senior officials at the ministry and the Volkswagen Group.
The Minster stressed the steps taken towards expanding and increasing the number of applied technology with new specializations addressing the labor market needs, and in line with Egypt’s Strategy and Vision 2030. It also aims to providing technical education that combines both the theoretical and practical aspects in such a way that helps students acquire skills and competencies required for the labor market.
Shawky referred to the state’s plan to localize the automotive industry and its feeding industries in Egypt, in addition to its developmental, environmental and economic dimensions. He further highlighted that the state is paying great attention towards opening a group of applied technology schools specialized in the automotive field in order to encourage the transportation industry and its related feeding industries locally; to keep pace with global advancement in the field of automotives and its future prospects.
Within the same context, Dr. Mogahed stressed the Ministry’s effective role in cooperating with the private sector to launch applied technology schools. This is indeed reflected in expertise exchange, balancing theoretical and practical aspects, as well as enhancing students’ skills. As for the “VW Group School for Applied Technology”, he added that the theoretical part will be covered at school according to a merit-based existing curricula; whereas the practical part will be addressed at workshops and training programs for students at factories and companies. The purpose is to ensure that students are adequately exposed to updates and developments in the field of car repair and maintenance.
He concluded that the Ministry will apply international standards on teaching methodology, training, assessment and academic curricula at schools. Teachers and administrators will be able to join those schools soon via the Ministry’s official website.
Mr. Najjar, the VW Group representative in Egypt, on the other hand, expressed his satisfaction signing this Protocol with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education. He also stressed that the VW Group is always keen to qualify new generations of technicians and specialists in the field of car repair and maintenance with distinctive ethics, skills and capabilities to be able to keep pace with the labor market requirements.
Karim Najjar added that the cooperation of the Volkswagen Group with the Ministry to establish the Volkswagen Group School of Applied Technology, which will be opened in the 2021/2022 academic year, comes hand in hand with the directions of the Egyptian state and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to pay attention to technical education and technical employment. He further stressed that Volkswagen Group exerts its utmost effort to develop the academic content as per international standards and prepare graduates who keep pace with the requirements of the labor market and the nature of rapid changes in the field of automotives. This school is meant to be one of the pillars of the state’s plan towards the localization of the automotive industry and its feeding industries in Egypt.