Egypt Will Have 500 Japanese Schools by 2030

The Ministry of Education and Technical Education plans to establish 500 Egyptian-Japanese schools by 2030, according to Education Minister Mohamed Abdel-Latif.

Speaking during a senate plenary session on education policies, Abdel-Latif said more than 100 schools are expected to be operating during the 2026/2027 academic year.

He noted that 69 schools were already functioning nationwide before the 2025/2026 year, exceeding an earlier target that aimed for 100 schools by 2030.

The minister said more than 17 Japanese experts are currently supervising the schools in Egypt, with the number expected to rise to 50 before the next academic year. Oversight includes joint visits and technical committees coordinated with Japanese partners.

A teacher training programme developed in partnership with Hiroshima University is also being expanded. Under the programme, Egyptian teachers complete a one-year course and receive a jointly accredited diploma. Officials said the initiative began with 100 teachers and is expected to scale to around 5,000 trainees annually.

The schools are based on elements of the Japanese education model, with officials highlighting discipline, teamwork, and identity preservation as key principles being integrated into the system.

Abdel-Latif also said the upcoming academic year will see the launch of the first cohort under the new Egyptian Baccalaureate system, with around 95% of students reportedly opting in.

Introduced in 2025, the system is intended to replace the current general secondary framework by focusing more heavily on critical thinking and multiple educational pathways rather than memorisation-based assessment.