Egypt's Minister of Education returns to University of Reading
Release Date 11 December 2014
The University of Reading was delighted to welcome back one of its former students last week - Dr Mahmoud Aboul Nasr, now Egypt's Minister of Education.
After reading for his PhD in engineering at Reading in the late 1980s, Dr Aboul Nasr returned to campus last week, leading a delegation from Egypt.
He said he was ‘thrilled' to have the chance to see his old university, and spoke fondly about his time at Reading.
After a distinguished career in higher education in Egypt, Dr Aboul Nasr now heads the Ministry of Education, spearheading ambitious national reforms in the sector. His visit to the UK focused on learning more about school leadership, teacher development, assurance and quality in the UK. As part of this, he was keen to discuss these topics with Reading's experts in the Institute of Education.
The delegation met staff from across the University, and Dr Aboul Nasr returned to his old laboratory and office, now part of the School of Construction Management.
The Minister also met Vice-Chancellor Sir David Bell, who prior to leading the University of Reading was the Permanent Secretary in the UK Department for Education and previously Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools for England.
Sir David shared his varied and deep knowledge of educational stakeholders, in a meeting alongside Vincenzo Raimo, Reading's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement, which the Minister described as ‘excellent'.
Colleagues from both delegations also underlined the significance of building Reading's relationship with Egypt and exploring future collaboration opportunities in areas such as school leadership and professional development for teachers.
Dr Aboul Nasr was accompanied by several officials, including Dr Ahmed Hashish and Mohamed Saad from the Ministry of Education, Dr Youhansanne Eid and Dr Ragia Taha from Egypt's quality assurance and accreditation body, and Mark Stephens and Sahar Al-Khamis from the British Council in Egypt.