Egypt Skills for Prosperity (S4P): HELW – Higher Education for Life and Work

Higher Education for Life and Work – HELW – is the proposal from the International Labour Organization (ILO) in partnership with the British Council, Advance HE, Al Alfi Foundation, ICareer, and others, to the UK Prosperity Fund – Skills for Prosperity Egypt. The proposed project will work closely with, and enhance the capacity of, Egyptian universities and the Supreme Council, government ministries, private sector organisations and associations, and NGOs, which all have a common interest in improving the equity, quality, and relevance of Egyptian post-secondary education. To date, the proposal has been endorsed by the Ministry of Higher Education, the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and a number of universities, as listed in Annex 10.8. This proposal responds to the UK call for interventions in three areas, and introduces a fourth over-arching outcome which aims to build a sustainability framework and collaborative process for orienting higher education towards employability by establishing a High Level Working Group for higher education and industry, and a number of partnerships at the university level which will build and reinforce higher education/industry links and partnerships between the British and Egyptian university sector. The High Level Working Group will also develop and adopt an Employability Skills Framework which will anchor interventions under the HELW programme and will serve as a guide for ongoing reform in the sector. This will be complemented by a leadership development initiative, drawing on UK expertise, and the establishment of a challenge fund to support innovation at individual universities. Over the course of the HELW programme this group will be supported to become self-sustaining. The HELW programme proposes a range of innovative responses, based on the experience and capacities of its partners, to address the three strands of the UK call. For Strand 1- Equity: Promote equitable access to higher education, particularly for low-income youth, young people with disabilities and young women from poor communities, who wish to pursue further studies at public universities in underrepresented subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). HELW will support participating universities to assess and address barriers affecting the target group students, will develop career guidance and outreach marketing, and develop programmes to assist target group youth in meeting the educational and financial requirements to qualify for admission. For Strand 2 – Quality: Improve the soft skills ecosystem within public universities by equipping undergraduates and post-graduates with in-demand and employability skills. HELW will support the development of a common definition for core skills, the identification of priority skills and will pilot the delivery of innovative approaches to teaching, assessment and certification. Because English language (specifically for work in STEM fields) and business skills have already been identified as priorities, these two areas will be piloted. Other core skills will be identified and prioritized for piloting based on research and the guidance of the High Level Working Group for higher education and industry. Strand 3 – Relevance: Work with UK and Egyptian industry to improve the pathways of transition from higher education to employment, particularly in STEM careers, for the target groups outlined above. HELW will involve a number of elements. Under the general Framework for Employability which will be developed and endorsed by the High Level Working group, HELW will facilitate the creation of partnerships and processes better to connect universities with relevant employer and industry groups, to enable better mutual understanding of needs and expectations. Practices such as staff exchanges and work experience for students will be supported. Finally, more active, more effective career guidance services will be developed to aid in the transition from edu

Project symbol

EGY/20/04/GBR

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Cairo

Start date

14/10/2020

End date

30/09/2023

Total allocation

2160899

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

2084181

Development Partners

United Kingdom/UK-Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office

Country/Countries

Egypt

Outcomes

Outcome 3: Full and productive employment for just transitions
Outcome 4: Sustainable enterprises for inclusive growth and decent work