Egypt, Early Childhood Education Enhancement Project: December 2006–September 2011
Sector: Education and Education Reform
Region: North Africa and the Middle East
Funded by:
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Total Value: Canadian contribution: C$14.6 million
Partners and Counterparts:
In Canada, the project is partnered with Algonquin College. In Egypt, the project falls under a broad Ministry of Education initiative, which includes World Bank and World Food Program. The Early Childhood Education Enhancement Project (ECEEP) is financed by Government of Egypt, the World Bank, the World Food Program, and CIDA.
Project Description
ECEEP’s overall purpose is to support Egypt in providing access to quality education that improves school readiness of four and five year old girls and boys, particularly those disadvantaged by gender, poverty or disability.
The Canadian Assistance Team (ECEEP-CAT) is CIDA’s contribution to ECEEP, providing technical assistance which supports the overall systemic expansion of quality early childhood education (ECE) in Egypt. Three areas of focus include expanding the participation of non-government service providers for increased ECE access, supporting quality enhancement of the kindergarten program, and supporting management reforms for an expanded system.. ECEEP-CAT conducts activities with national reach through direct support to the MoE which has resulted in the adoption of new KG national standards for kindergarten and a new national play-based curriculum as well as working in six target governorates to develop replicable initiatives for quality ECE. ECEEP-CAT’s cross-cutting themes of gender equality, child rights and institutional capacity strengthening are mainstreamed across all project activities. As the technical lead among project partners, ECEEP-CAT has led the development and implementation of training programs within the three project components of Access, Quality and Systems Management.
Key Elements of the project include:
- Fund community kindergartens to become models of quality by encouraging them to raise standards that meet accreditation criteria
- Support NGOs and community agencies to establish kindergartens that are inclusive
- Support development of a curriculum and educational materials that are gender sensitive and promote children’s rights
- Support the development of in-service teacher training based on national standards
- Contribute to the development of a national, standards-based supervision system and support its implementation
- Provide support that strengthens Ministry of Education’s capacity to manage kindergarten expansion
- Provide support that strengthens Ministry of Education’s capacity to monitor and evaluate reform efforts and communicate successes
- Support financial planning to ensure rational funding for quality kindergarten services
Website: www.eceep-cat.org
Project Manager
Matthew Hiebert
matthewh@agriteam.ca
