About the Foundation

Since its inception, Education First Foundation has connected civil society institutions to support the public education sector in Egypt through collective action.

The Foundation started with a capacity-building project for official and distinguished language schools spread across Egypt.

The first training session was in 2013 for 40 school principals in Cairo, along with scholarships for 27 top students from primary and preparatory exams in the Al-Obour educational district, supported by New Generation International Schools and coordinated with the Ministry of Education.

In 2014, the Foundation expanded its activities to support professional development in 1004 official language schools and invited civil society institutions and private corporate social responsibility to support this project, impacting nearly one million students. It later expanded to sustainable development, training 15,000 teachers in Science, Math, and English, as well as educational leadership roles.

Initially, there were 721 schools; now nearly 1000 schools serve around one million students, with the Foundation training approximately 15,000 teachers, principals, and administrators.

Education First organized competitive programs to foster excellence, including scholarships for top students in preparatory exams over five years.

The Foundation also ran the "Ibhar Misr" program under Crédit Agricole to discover and support talented students aged 14–18 in science, arts, math, and IT, contributing to Egypt’s first online platform for discovering gifted students, alongside scientific competitions for school and university students.

At the school competition level, the Foundation ran "Schools of Egypt" to select the best experimental school in each governorate, evaluated by trained Ministry supervisors.

For teachers, the "Teacher of Egypt" contest recognized the top three teachers in each governorate following standards set by the Foundation in coordination with the Ministry of Education.

The Foundation’s experience with technical education included supporting El-Sweedy Applied Technology in Sharkia, a unique pioneering effort demonstrating technical education as a development engine.

The Foundation also launched Egypt’s first educational-cultural salon to discuss educational issues positively and constructively with experts and enthusiasts.