Egypt 2024

Key takeaways

In Egypt, vocational education remains widely available for those choosing this path after basic education, supported by specialised models and the expansion of Technological Universities. However, fewer adults participate in continuing vocational education, and lifelong learning opportunities have become more limited. While some progress has been made in expanding CVET, participation remains low, and private or NGO-led training, often seen as higher quality, is not accessible to everyone. The system has become more flexible, allowing learners to move more easily between vocational and general education. Ongoing reforms aim to integrate CVET into initial VET institutions to improve participation, retention, and completion rates.

Many young learners still struggle to develop key skills, while adults benefit from better-quality training. Although links between VET and the labour market are relatively strong, many graduates find that their skills do not match employer needs, leading to high levels of "educated unemployment." The shift to competency-based curricula and the establishment of ETQAAN for accreditation aim to improve quality, while new initiatives in career guidance and school-to-work transitions seek to boost employability. Further reforms focus on making VET more responsive to labour market demands and technological change.

Managing VET in Egypt presents both progress and ongoing difficulties. Public accountability and quality assurance have improved, helped by ETQAAN, which is expected to play a larger role. Stakeholder engagement remains inconsistent, and decision-making is often hindered by gaps in reliable data. Leadership capacity in VET is strong, but international exposure for students and professionals is limited. The most urgent challenge is funding, as spending on VET remains insufficient. New governance structures and private sector partnerships are being developed to improve training quality and ensure better access to learning materials and infrastructure.

Access to learning

Monitoring in the area of access to and participation to learning helps countries assess the extent to which initial VET, continuing VET and other learning opportunities are accessible and attractive to all learners, regardless of their individual backgrounds or reasons for participating. The data also reflects how well learners can expect to progress through and graduate from these learning opportunities.

Opportunities for lifelong learning: access and participation

Egypt has made progress in expanding access to initial vocational education, with opportunities available across all 27 governorates. Initiatives such as the Applied Technology School model and the introduction of Technological Universities have played a key role in making vocational education a more attractive option. However, participation in continuing vocational education and lifelong learning remains low. While the country has significant capacity to provide CVET, including free government-run programmes, many of these opportunities remain underutilised. Private and NGO-led training is often considered of higher quality and more effective in securing jobs, but access remains limited. Recent reforms aim to integrate CVET into initial VET institutions to improve both participation and attractiveness by making better use of existing resources.

Learners in Egypt still face challenges in moving between different education and training pathways, although recent improvements have made the system more flexible. Transitions from general education into VET are possible, but movement in the opposite direction is still rare. However, progress has been made in recognising and accrediting prior learning, which has helped increase horizontal permeability within the system.

Additional measures have been introduced to help learners complete their programmes and prevent early school leaving. The Labour System, launched in 2014, provides financial and practical support for students from low-income backgrounds, while transition-to-employment units offer career guidance and job market information. Ongoing reforms aim to improve the efficiency and transparency of these schemes, making them more aligned with the needs of students and employers. While challenges remain, these efforts reflect a broader commitment to improving both access to and the flexibility of vocational education in Egypt.

Egypt has taken important steps to expand access to vocational education, making it a more viable option for learners across the country. However, participation in lifelong learning remains low, and many training opportunities, particularly in CVET, remain underutilised. While private and NGO-led programmes are seen as higher quality, access is still limited, which highlights the need for more inclusive and widely available training options. Recent reforms seek to address these gaps by integrating CVET into existing VET institutions, aiming to improve both participation and the overall appeal of vocational education. Progress has also been made in making the system more flexible. While moving between general and vocational education remains difficult, better recognition of prior learning has created new opportunities for participation. This, coupled with measures to reduce dropout rates reflect ongoing efforts to ensure that VET remains a pathway to further learning and employment.

The Torino Process is a regular review of national systems of vocational education and training as well as adult education. It is designed to analyse the ways in which national VET systems (including adult education) address the challenges of human capital development in a lifelong learning perspective. It was established by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2010 and has been carried out in partner countries in Southeastern Europe, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean ever since.

Monitoring in the context of the Torino Process describes the extent to which countries deliver on their commitments to learners in support of their learning through life (lifelong learning - LLL) in three major areas of policy and system performance: access to learning, quality of learning, and system organisation.

Quality of learning

Quality and relevance of learning is the area of monitoring that identifies how successfully the VET system provides basic skills and key competences to both young and adult learners. It highlights the relevance of VET programmes to the world of work and how effectively VET graduates transition into the labour market. Additionally, it monitors efforts to promote excellence across key domains, including pedagogy, professional development, programme content, governance, and social inclusion, as well as the openness of the VET system to innovation in response to the evolving needs of learners and labour markets.

Lifelong learning outcomes: quality and relevance, excellence and innovation

Egypt has maintained stable performance in delivering quality and relevance in VET, with improvements in employability, the provision of skills to adults, and responsiveness to socio-economic developments. While young learners still struggle to acquire key competences, adults have benefitted from better training opportunities, particularly in IT literacy. Major reforms, including the transition to competency-based curricula and the establishment of ETQAAN for accreditation, aim to improve learning outcomes. However, many students entering IVET and CVET lack strong foundational skills, which highlights the need for a stronger focus on basic literacy and numeracy into vocational training.

Employability among VET graduates has improved, partly due to the growing recognition among policymakers of the role VET can play in career progression. Work-based learning initiatives, including the Applied Technology Schools (ATS) model and stronger public-private partnerships, have helped strengthen links with the labour market.

And yet, "educated unemployment" remains a major concern, as many graduates still struggle to find jobs that match their skills. The employability of VET graduates remains average. Traditional apprenticeships and vocational training centres have long played a role in bridging the education-to-work gap, yet career guidance remains underdeveloped. To address this, Egypt has expanded School-to-Work Transition Units and launched a national career guidance strategy to help learners make informed career choices.

Efforts to modernise VET also focus on adapting curricula to long-term trends. The system is making progress in integrating digitalisation, while the green transition remains an area for further development. New initiatives, such as the International ATS and Green Economy Competence Centres, aim to strengthen environmental awareness in training programmes. Meanwhile, VET in Egypt has become more responsive to the needs of diverse learner groups, including migrants, individuals seeking recognition of prior learning, and workers in low-skill jobs. The Dual System in technical schools and schemes like "School Inside a Factory" add practical, flexible training opportunities that aim to make VET more tailored to the needs of employers.

Egypt has made progress in improving the quality and relevance of vocational education, particularly in employability and adult skills training. Reforms such as competency-based curricula and a national accreditation system aim to raise standards, though many students still enter VET with weak foundational skills. Strengthening basic literacy and numeracy remains essential to ensure all learners benefit fully from training.

Stronger ties between VET and the labour market have improved job prospects, but many graduates still struggle to find employment that matches their skills. Career guidance remains limited, making it harder for learners to plan their futures. To address this, Egypt has expanded School-to-Work Transition Units and introduced a national career guidance strategy. At the same time, vocational education is adapting to long-term trends. Digital skills training is advancing, and new work-based learning models aim to better align VET with employer needs.

System organisation

System organisation is the area of monitoring that captures performance across various domains of management and administration. It examines whether practitioners and leaders have access to data and evidence to support informed decision-making, the level of stakeholder involvement in VET governance, the quality and capacity of staff in leadership positions, and the degree of internationalisation. Additionally, monitoring the allocation of human and financial resources to the VET system helps assess whether these resources effectively support teaching, training, and learning.

System organisation: management and resourcing

Egypt’s VET system has made progress in improving the quality of education, but challenges remain in funding, leadership, and international collaboration. Efforts to raise teaching standards and improve training for educators have strengthened how schools are evaluated, and a new national body (ETQANN) is being set up to oversee quality across vocational training. However, decision-making in VET remains fragmented, as many councils that should bring together government, businesses, and educators are inactive. To address this, Egypt plans to introduce a new national council for education and training, along with industry-led groups that will help align training with job market needs.

A lack of reliable data continues to make planning difficult. While Egypt regularly reviews its VET system, gaps in information make it harder to track progress and identify areas for improvement. Leadership in vocational schools is relatively strong, as most school directors have years of experience in the system, but training for leaders remains unstructured. International exchange opportunities for students and teachers are still rare, limiting exposure to different training models and job markets.

Funding remains one of the biggest challenges for VET in Egypt. Public spending on education has declined, and vocational training does not receive enough resources, despite contributions from businesses and international donors. Budget transparency is also limited, making it difficult to ensure funds are used effectively. Staff shortages add to these difficulties, as restrictions on public sector hiring make it hard to recruit and retain skilled teachers.

To tackle some of these issues, Egypt is working more closely with businesses to improve training. New models, such as Applied Technology Schools and workplace-based training, allow companies to help shape education and provide better learning materials. These initiatives are a step forward, but ensuring that vocational schools have the funding, infrastructure, and staff they need remains a long-term challenge.

Egypt has made progress in improving vocational education, but challenges remain in governance, funding, and staffing. Strengthening teaching standards and introducing a national quality assurance body are positive steps, yet decision-making remains fragmented. Plans for a new national council and industry-led skills groups could help align training with job market needs. While school leadership is relatively strong, training for directors lacks structure, and international exchange opportunities remain limited. Funding shortages and hiring restrictions have made it harder to recruit and retain enough qualified teachers and trainers, affecting the overall capacity of the system. Expanding business partnerships has helped improve training and provide better learning resources, but these initiatives alone cannot address the full scope of challenges. For VET to meet the needs of learners and the labour market, continued investment in infrastructure, staffing, and resources will be essential.

Promoting access and participation in opportunities for lifelong learning

Supporting quality and relevance of lifelong learning

Index of system performance

International comparability of performance results

In addition to messages about system performance, the Torino Process monitoring delivers information about the international comparability of results of each country, the extent to which these results may be susceptible to bias, and how self-critical a country is when it reports about its policy and system performance for external monitoring purposes. This is possible because the monitoring methodology foresees keeping accurate records about the availability, origin and type of evidence used to calculate the monitoring results for each country, including Egypt.

Egypt has slightly improved the availability of internationally comparable data since 2023, but it still lags behind many other countries. While more data can now be compared with international benchmarks, the overall share remains low. Egypt is still among the countries with the least internationally comparable data, making it harder to assess its performance in relation to other VET systems. As a result, monitoring relies heavily on self-assessment responses, which carry a higher risk of bias. However, Egypt’s evaluations are not overly self-complimentary. In fact, responses in the 2023 supplementary monitoring questionnaire were somewhat more