Cyprus and Egypt marked the beginning of their official cooperation on Sustainable Development Education matters with a meeting in Cairo, last week, attended by 150 members of the academic community, education experts and MPs.
 
An announcement issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Education said that the meeting, on July 30 and 31, 2018, is part of the implementation of the Mediterranean Strategic Plan on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Strengthening interstate cooperation is a basic pillar of that, in order to undertake joint ESD initiatives, it is noted.
 
Cyprus was represented at the meeting by Aravella Zachariou, environmental education coordinator at the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Mariza Hadjisotiriou from the office of the Minister of Education and Andrea Kazante, a Cyprus Embassy attaché.
 
During an official ceremony, the Egyptian Deputy Minister of Education, Mohamed Omar, said that education matters are among the biggest challenges for his government, which has declared 2019 as the year of education. ESD is an important part of that and Cyprus’ experience and expertise is very important, the Egyptian Minister noted.
 
Cyprus’ Minister of Education and Culture, Costas Hambiaouris, said that Cyprus is ready to support Egypt in ESD matters, in order to design and produce the relevant educational material. This is a cooperation that may be strengthened over time, the Minister said in his speech, read by his office staff.
 
This particular cooperation between the two countries is implemented by the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute and the Egyptian Sustainable Development Forum, for a period of two years.