Egypt Civic Education Program

Program Overview

Partner Organization

CEOSS (Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services)

The Egypt Civic Education program aims to foster the further development of democracy and civil society in Egypt through increased integration of civic education in the primary and secondary school system. The program is funded through a grant from the Starr Foundation.

KEY OBJECTIVIES

Increasing the availability of information about citizenship and human rights in Egyptian schools
Developing and training teachers in educational methods to prepare children to actively participate in society

Program Activities

IREX will partner with CEOSS (Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services), a Cairo-based nongovernmental organization, to administer the following program components:

Conduct a needs assessment and formulate a strategy for program implementation. A Project Coordinating Committee comprising students, teachers, Ministry of Education officials, NGOs, parents, and technical experts will assess priority needs through visits to schools, interviews with focus groups, and analysis of current curriculum used in primary and secondary schools. The committee will determine several broad themes of civic education that will be addressed and suggest appropriate strategies for the implementation of the project.
Develop civic education curriculum modules and teacher training materials and manuals. The focus will be on integration of various subjects important for civic education in existing school curriculum. Besides introducing new concepts, these materials will also present new methods for teaching students new values and skills. These methods will include participation, practical activities, learning through playing, and more. These educational materials and methods will be used in schools and educational institutions to teach students the principles of citizenship, human rights, tolerance, cooperation, and respect for diversity.
Produce manuals for NGOs and teachers. These manuals will offer a more detailed description of training, application of curriculum in schools, methods, and activities that can be practiced in and out of schools.
Train, test, and apply the proposed materials. CEOSS and partner community based organizations (CBOs) will work with about 30 schools in Egypt, to test these materials. Prior to testing, teachers will be trained in using these new curriculum materials.

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