Under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Meteini, President of Ain Shams University, Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Acting Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, received, on Sunday, December 25, 2022, the delegation of the Japanese JICA Project for Community Learning, at Al-Zafaran Palace, in the presence of Dr. Islam El-Saeed, Director The Center for Adult Education at the University, to discuss the potential cooperation between the Center for Adult Education at the University and JICA.

The Japanese delegation included Professor Atsushi Makino, Professor of Social and Lifelong Education at the University of Tokyo, Professor Shinnosuke Minami, President of the 10K Society and Project Coordinator, and Professor Haruka Sokuhara, Social Learning Specialist at the Hantagawa Center and Online Courses and Exchange Officer.

The delegation praised the warm reception and the interest of Prof. Dr. Ghada Farouk, Vice President for Community Service and Environmental Development, in discussing Japanese approaches to developing the course of community education.

The welcoming meeting was followed by a mini-workshop at the adult education center in the presence of members of the Japanese delegation and Dr. Islam Al-Saeed, Director of the Center and Dr. Nahla Gamal, Secretary of the Center, and Dr. Suhaib Shehta, Director of the Community Services Center at the Faculty of Education, and Dr. Ahmed Refaat, assistant professor of comparative education at the Faculty of Education, and Mr. Mohamed Abdel Magid Said, a specialist in Japanese-style education programs, director of the Egyptian Komenkan Center, and project coordinator in Egypt.

The meeting focused on emphasizing the role of the adult education center at the university in establishing and consolidating the values of volunteering for developmental work and upgrading educational services in accordance with the specific cultural contexts of each society.

Dr. Islam Al-Said presented a detailed description of the idea of establishing the center as the first center for adult education at the level of Egyptian universities since 2001 and his keenness to activate all areas of adult education in order to reach the development of the individual for sustainable community development, which was praised by the Japanese delegation, stressing their admiration for the activities of the center.

The meeting also discussed several recommendations to activate future aspects of cooperation between the center and the JICA project.