The Education Ministry is in final talks to tap Cambridge University Press and Assessments as its new curricula partner in a long-term push to align the country’s school system with international standards and better prepare students for foreign universities. The move would see Cambridge University Press and Assessments replace UK-based publisher Longman, whose four-year contract under Pearson Education to develop and write textbooks has come to an end. The ministry also plans to cancel its agreements with Discovery Education and York Press, adopting Cambridge’s skill-based learning materials instead, a government source told EnterpriseAM.

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Talks are currently in their final stages between the Education Ministry and Cambridge over a potential agreement to roll out skill-based, advanced curricula as part of a broader shift to the baccalaureate system and efforts to better align education with the labor market, an Education Ministry official told EnterpriseAM. While the decision has yet to be formally announced, the official expressed confidence that the partnership will go through, framing it as a turning point for curriculum reform in Egypt.

REFRESHER- The Education Ministry is planning to replace the Thanaweya Amma with a new baccalaureate system starting the next academic year. The system would cut subjects from 32 to 7, introduce four specialization tracks, allow two grade re-takes, and align with international standards like the IB and IGCSE. It has already received cabinet sign-off and is now subject to community consultation.

Why Cambridge? Bringing Egyptian curricula in line with international standards is a national and societal imperative, educational researcher Hassan Shehata told EnterpriseAM. He described the agreement with Cambridge as a “qualitative leap” for pre-university education, shifting students away from rote memorization and toward a system that builds critical thinking, analysis, open-mindedness, and cultural awareness.

The new Cambridge-developed curricula are designed to align with the planned baccalaureate system and pave the way for a twinning model with UK schools at the pre-university level, Shehata added. The move is expected to attract investment to the education sector and raise overall quality by overhauling not just English curricula, but also core subjects like math, science, and life sciences.

The shift to Cambridge-aligned curricula could also help bridge the gap between pre-university and higher education by embedding critical thinking, research, and applied learning into the classroom — skills increasingly demanded by both local and international universities, Shehata told us.

The current push aims to broaden access to the widely respected and in-demand British education system, which has long been popular among families who can afford to enroll their children in international schools offering Cambridge-accredited IGCSE certificates, the source said. The Education Ministry now aims to accredit more than 200 official international schools and upgrade both public school curricula and language programs in private schools to reflect Cambridge standards.

A growing number of international schools now offer Egyptian certificates accredited by Cambridge, alongside the state-run Nile International Schools, which also follow the Cambridge framework. Education Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif met with Cambridge officials in February to renew and expand the partnership as the British system remains central to many schools’ curricula, exam models, and IGCSE offerings.

Private schools have yet to receive official instructions on whether they will be required to adopt the new Cambridge-aligned curricula, a school head told EnterpriseAM. For now, the English-language Connect curriculum — rolled out in 2018 under the Education 2.0 initiative — remains in use. The ministry is expected to clarify soon whether the new system will extend to private education institutions amid an ongoing debate over the role of national versus international standards in curriculum design.

Before Connect and Discovery materials were mandated, many private schools already used content from Cambridge, Oxford, and Macmillan, tailored to their educational models and designed to keep pace with international schools, according to the school head. “We were in serious competition with international education,” the source said, adding that the shift to Connect has weakened students’ language acquisition.

The move could help revive private sector interest in K-12 education, which has waned in recent years, according to the source. Giving private schools more flexibility in terms of curriculum selection — similar to international schools — would raise academic standards and meet rising demand from parents shifting their children to British-style education, the source added.

Your top education stories for the week:

  • The cabinet approved draft amendments to add vocational education as a third track for high school students alongside the existing science and arts tracks in a bid to meet labor market needs. (Cabinet statement)
  • Tatweer Misr is renegotiating its agreement with New Jersey Institute of Technology to revive the stalled Bloomfields education zone, aiming to boost student intake and expand academic offerings. The company will also seek fresh investors to help finance the project. (Al Mal)
  • The University of East London and East Capital University inked an MoU to establish an integrated educational complex offering programs that address future job market needs and build scientific research bridges between Egypt and the UK. (Cabinet statement)
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