Vocational education is getting more attention: The government is ramping up its efforts to prepare students for the labor market and align education with its initiatives to support industrial development and attract foreign investment.

The private sector is pushing this forward: Rising FDI inflows are largely driven by Egypt’s low-cost labor, strategic location, and various investment prospects. However, factories — particularly in tech, textiles, and engineering — are struggling to find trained workers as they prepare to begin production, a government source told EnterpriseAM. The high demand is encouraging the government to accelerate partnerships with the private sector to increase the supply of qualified labor.

DATA POINT- Egypt has a labor force of around 33.4 mn people, most of whom are men, according to state statistics agency Capmas.

High demand for skilled labor: International factories in Egypt — especially Turkish and Chinese factories — are looking for skilled technical workers and are offering competitive wages and incentives, member of the Tenth of Ramadan Investors Association Sayed El Barhmtouchy told EnterpriseAM. He stressed that Egypt must support local manufacturers and ensure a trained labor pool is available to help boost production. Skilled industrial workers often earn more than the national minimum wage, Federation of Egyptian Industries board member Mohamed El Bahy told us.

A new vocational high school track: The cabinet approved amendments last month to the law governing pre-university education to introduce a third track for high schools students — vocational education — to accompany the science and arts tracks in a bid to meet labor market needs.

The details: The new track will prioritize industrial fields that are currently underserved by the labor market, with a focus on manufacturing skills, a source at the Education Ministry told EnterpriseAM. The new track will last one to two years, after which graduates will directly enter the labor market. The track will play a critical role in bridging the skilled labor gap.

Where things stand: The government is currently finalizing partnerships with the private sector for training and funding support and is updating its curricula accordingly. Efforts are also underway to launch this pathway at both the high school and university levels in cooperation with the private sector, according to our source. Under the new pathway, students will receive comprehensive career services, including career guidance, specialized training programs, and links to job offers.

REMEMBER- The government aims to boost the industrial sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP to 20% by 2030, up from the current 14%, double industrial sector employment to 7 mn, enhance workforce skills, and reduce unemployment.

A new digital platform is up and running: The Higher Education Ministry has launched a national digital platform and seven university platforms to manage vocational tracks and bridge the gap between educational institutions and labor markets. The ministry is also looking to expand the Be Ready initiative to reach more students and universities.

Be Ready is already making an impact: Be Ready has helped train some 2k students and place nearly 1.9k in decent jobs during its pilot phase. The program — developed in partnership with the International Labour Organization and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office — aims to bridge the education-employment gap through job fairs and employability skills training.

The program is expanding: Be Ready’s second phase will offer training and job placement for another 2k students, with a focus on soft skills, English, and digital careers. The new phase will be funded by a USD 200k grant from the Dutch Embassy. Another phase focused on nursing is also underway in Upper Egypt in partnership with the Magdi Yacoub Foundation.

Exporting skilled labor is also part of the plan: Egypt is now working to train workers for legal migration to industrialized countries, Education Development Fund Secretary General Rasha Sharaf told EnterpriseAM. Egypt is collaborating with German institutions to establish equivalencies between Egyptian and German vocational certificates, enabling students to work abroad, she said. Sharaf added that work is underway to identify skill shortages, finalize professional certificate requirements, and provide the language and technical training needed for students to qualify for jobs abroad.

The latest efforts on that front: The Labor Ministry launched Mehany 2030 last year to train and qualify 1 mn young Egyptians for local and foreign vocational markets. According to the program’s website, it operates across all governorates and includes 150 vocational training and assessment centers, 500 trainers, 50 career tracks, and over 31k trainees.

Tech skills are now a must: All those we spoke to agreed that demand for skilled labor is growing, especially with the increasing importance of tech literacy. They stressed the need for better integration between the various tracks to produce a workforce that is capable of keeping pace with the rapidly evolving job market.

Your top education stories for the week:

  • The Water Ministry is establishing technical vocational schools for irrigation technology to prepare and develop a specialized, technical workforce capable of filling needed technical positions in the coming years. (Statement)
  • Raya Holding’s Raya Logistics and the College of International Transport andLogistics will establish advanced training programs to equip more people with the needed skills to fulfill labor market needs under an agreement inked between the two. (Mubasher)
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