Egypt¡¯s education system has ¡°damaged a generation¡± of young people who are not able to compete in a global market, according to a government adviser.

Tarek Shawki, chairman of Egypt¡¯s Presidential Advisory Council for Education and Scientific Research, said the country¡¯s poor education system has ¡°killed the curiosity and creativity¡± in young people.

¡°The system in the past 30 years has really damaged a generation,¡± he told Times ÖйúAƬ during a visit to the UK last week organised by the British Council.

¡°Now [these people] are frustrated because they are not sufficiently educated to assume competitive jobs. It¡¯s not their fault ¨C it¡¯s the way they were taught. We did not give them the right skills to compete in a very tough world. It¡¯s a shame we didn¡¯t prepare them for that.¡±

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He added that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is seeking to rectify this by increasing investment in education and research and transforming the country into a ¡°learning society¡±.

Last week the government launched the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, a free digital library of academic books and journals, which will be open to all members of the public in the country.

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Dr Shawki said he hopes universities will use the resource to improve their curricula.

¡°The philosophy is not to have a top-down solution that fits all. We are building an enabling environment,¡± he said.

¡°Politicians want to see immediate feedback but the results will not be seen the next morning.¡±

He added that the country is ¡°learning from the best¡±, citing the UK as one example, and compared Egypt¡¯s ÖйúAƬ reforms to earlier transformations in Singapore and Malaysia.

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ellie.bothwell@tesglobal.com