The Madbouly government is working on a large-scale plan to convert public technical schools into specialized international schools to better support the labor market and help globalize technical education. Since the start of the year, the Education Ministry has inked a series of agreements aimed at enhancing technical education and tying it to labor market needs — while also creating a clearer role for the private sector.

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The government has a plan to convert 1.6k public technical schools into specialized, internationally linked institutions, aligning with the country’s new industrial and technology narrative. All schools will be open to private-sector participation — whether through management, operation, or technical partnerships that include hands-on training inside factories.

Italy looks set to play an important role in this push. The Education Ministry inked a partnership with the Italian government to create an Egyptian-Italian bridge for transforming local technical education into internationally accredited programs that meet global standards. The move will give students unique opportunities to develop their skills and earn international certificates that open doors to jobs both at home and abroad. The initiative is being rolled out with some of Italy’s largest technical academies and institutes and will bring a qualitative shift to Egypt’s technical and vocational training landscape. As part of the cooperation, 18 MoUs were signed to establish and operate 89 applied technology schools beginning academic year 2026-27 across various industrial and service sectors — all meeting top global quality standards.

The move follows last week’s announcement by the Egyptian and South Korean presidents that the two sides are studying a proposal to set up a Korea-branded science and technology university in Egypt, alongside exploring the opening of Korean schools. This also follows earlier steps to expand German and Spanish schools and deepen a range of international education partnerships.

What’s in the Egypt–Italy package?

  • 15 pharma and chemical industries schools;
  • 10 hospitality schools;
  • 6 schools specialized in electrical and mechanical fields studies;
  • 3 schools specialized in engineering industries (mechanics, electricity, welding) through cooperation between the Arab Organization for Industrialization and Italy’s Engim San Paolo;
  • 10 schools specialized in iron and steel studies through cooperation between Ezz Steel Group and Italy’s Danieli to train technicians for the Egyptian and global labor markets;
  • 5 water, irrigation, and desalination technology schools;
  • 10 schools specialized in agriculture and food-processing studies through cooperation between the Agriculture Ministry and Italy’s ITS Agro Academy;
  • 26 schools specialized in modern agriculture and irrigation technologies;
  • One sustainable transport and logistics school through cooperation between the Elsewedy Technical Academy and Italy’s G. Caboto Institute;
  • One school specialized in textile and spinning studies;
  • One school specialized in metals-industry studies, particularly aluminum production and line maintenance;
  • And a fashion and ready-made garments school through cooperation between Elsewedy Technical Academy and Italy’s ITS Meta Academy.

Starting next academic year, Egypt will start applying the Italian technical and vocational training model known as 4+2 — four years of technical schooling followed by two years of structured vocational training, a source told EnterpriseAM.

Foreign partnerships in technical education will accelerate knowledge transfer and curriculum modernization, our source told us. Under the new framework, teachers and students will be sent to Italy to learn the language and train on advanced curricula before the new schools open their doors — especially given the limited availability of Italian-language training centers in Egypt.

The source added that the government is counting on private-sector partners to expand their role across Egypt’s 1.1k technical and vocational schools — including Japanese schools, applied technology schools, and the Italian and German models — to move beyond traditional technical education and create a direct bridge between schools and employers.

The government’s push to involve private players in providing training and jobs will help bridge the gap between skilled labor demand and supply in the job market, Dabur Egypt General Manager Moheb Kaiser told EnterpriseAM. Dabur Egypt recently signed a partnership to train students from Electro Misr School for Applied Technology inside the company’s factory as part of initiatives to upgrade technical education.

The push will also open up job offers overseas for graduating students while also securing labor needs here at home, the owner of maritime services company Nautix, Magdi Ghali, told EnterpriseAM. Nautix is coordinating with the Industry Ministry to open a specialized school for ship mechanics training in partnership with major German manufacturers, which will give students a certificate accredited by those companies alongside their Egyptian qualification.

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