Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Matini, President of Ain Shams University, and Mr. Li Ming, Director of the International Center for Innovation in Higher Education of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) signed an agreement between the Egyptian National Center for the International Institute for Distance Learning IIOE Egypt National Center at Ain Shams University and the International Center for Innovation in Education Higher Education under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI), for the joint launch of the center’s first project, “Empowering Higher Education Institutions for Digital Education and Learning in Egypt”.

The signing ceremony of the agreement was witnessed by Prof. Dr. Mona Abdel-Aal Al-Zahri, Director of the Education Development Department at Ain Shams University and the Assistant Secretary-General of the International Distance Learning Institute of the International Center for Innovation in Higher Education under the auspices of UNESCO, Prof. Dr. Sahar Dowidar, Director of the Central Unit for Curriculum and Learning Development, and Dr. Dalia Youssef, Director of the Central Unit for E-Learning and the Education Development Department’s work team.

It is worth noting that Ain Shams University and the UNESCO International Center for Innovation in Higher Education (UNESCO-ICHEI) jointly established the Egyptian National Center for the International Institute of Distance Learning IIOE Egypt in May 2022 to build a national center that supports the digital transformation of higher education institutions in Egypt. The center includes 22 Egyptian universities.

Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Meteini expressed the university's aspiration to partner with more Egyptian higher education institutions and to implement the activities of this project and to reap its impact on the Egyptian higher education network.

Prof. Mona Abdel-Al mentioned the project’s objectives, which are to enhance digital education and learning in Egyptian higher education institutions by enhancing the competencies of faculty members in digital education, improving the quality of electronic and blended courses, and strengthening the practice of digital teaching, in addition to providing an institutional environment conducive to digital teaching, and providing Digital leadership of Egyptian higher education institutions and enhancing the capabilities of the top management of universities.

She also explained the parts of the project, which include training faculty staff on distance education and learning, a leadership forum for national higher education institutions and a circle between representatives of the management of Egyptian educational institutions to address policies and challenges in the field of distance education and digital transformation.

As part of the project, a series of training on digital teaching will be launched; Which includes two training programs, each containing three workshops for sixty (60) faculty members from the Egyptian partner universities of the Egyptian National Center for the International Institute for Distance Education, in addition to holding a dialogue session to discuss national policy between members of the administration and support for Egyptian higher education institutions and representatives of national bodies for higher education in Egypt.

The agreement comes in recognition of the importance of digital education and learning in achieving higher education that is characterized by quality, equity and inclusion, in response to the evolving requirements of the labor market, through the widespread use of digital technologies.

The agreement also reflects the common vision of developing the quality of higher education through digital education and learning within the framework determined by the Egyptian National Center for the International Distance Learning Institute and to activate its role in establishing a quality national center for digital education and learning to serve and support the national digital transformation of higher education in Egypt.