وزيرا التعليم العالى والتربية والتعليم يشهدان ختام مسابقات صندوق رعاية المبتكرين

Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, held the closing event of the programs and competitions of the Fund for the Care of Innovators and Geniuses for the year 2023, in the presence of Dr. Diaa Khalil, Executive Director of the Fund, and Dr. Majed Ghanima, Director of Partnerships and Marketing at the Fund, and a group of leaders from the Ministry and the Fund, faculty members, researchers, and students.

In his speech, he congratulated Dr. Ayman Ashour, the finalists and winners of the Fund’s competitions, pointing out that they represent pride for the nation, and that their achievements confirm that Egypt possesses a tremendous human wealth of competencies and creative talents, hoping that this honor will be an incentive for them to achieve more brilliance, distinction, success, and creativity in various fields. And to serve as a starting point towards the bright future that they all seek; To contribute to the development of their modern societies.

The Minister also congratulated the family of the Innovators and Geniuses Welfare Fund on this good occasion, praising the support and care they provided for young entrepreneurs, innovators and geniuses, and thanked everyone who contributed to the formation of this good and distinguished scene.

The Minister of Higher Education stressed that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research pays great attention to nurturing entrepreneurs, innovators and geniuses, believing that they are the future of the nation, and that they are capable of achieving sustainable development and facing the challenges facing our country, noting that this comes within the framework of the National Education Strategy. Higher Education and Scientific Research, which was launched last March 7, aims to create a stimulating and supportive environment for excellence and innovation, which contributes to the preparation of an effective scientific and technological base that produces knowledge and is capable of innovation, pushing the national economy to continuous progress.

Dr. Ayman Ashour pointed out that, within the framework of this strategy, the Ministry’s efforts have resulted in tangible achievements in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship, including, but not limited to, the gradual improvement of Egypt’s position in the Global Innovation Index, as Egypt advanced three times in the Global Innovation Index. Centers during the current year, as it ranked 86th globally out of 132 countries, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) 2023 report.

The Minister of Higher Education stressed that, within the framework of Egypt’s interest in developing knowledge and innovation, and in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, on the importance of nurturing the gifted, geniuses, and innovators, and developing mechanisms to discover them, and build a generation of distinguished young cadres, the Ministry established the Fund for the Care of Innovators and Geniuses, which is one of the technical arms of the Ministry. Which provides programs and initiatives that support innovators, geniuses, and entrepreneurs, pointing to the Fund’s success in turning some innovative ideas into products, as the number of startup companies that benefited from the pre-incubation program in the virtual incubator reached about 43 companies, in addition to about 12,539 students and researchers benefiting from the programs and grants. Provided by the Fund, the establishment of 33 innovation clubs within educational directorates, the training of 95 trainers in innovation clubs, the establishment of 32 centers for the care of gifted and talented people in universities, the provision of financial support for the development of innovative ideas, and the support of scholarships and prizes for winners, amounting to approximately 8,866,000 pounds.

The Minister of Higher Education called on all investors to consider supporting the ideas of creative and innovative youth, and to provide them with financial and logistical support. To translate their ideas into economically viable products, pointing out that the ideas of these young people are an invaluable national wealth and are capable of bringing about real change in society. Therefore, investing in the ideas of creative and innovative youth is an investment in the future, stressing that he is certain that all the ideas and projects presented by these young people will receive support, care and attention from those concerned, and one day they will be one of the pillars of industry and production, and a number of them will be at the forefront of business owners. .

At the beginning of his speech, Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education, expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the Fund for Welfare of Innovators and Geniuses for their efforts to sponsor this event, stressing that we meet today in order to motivate and honor our distinguished sons and daughters, and encourage them to further excellence and mastery. Developing their excellence and creativity that we are all proud of, in addition to enhancing their self-confidence and deepening their loyalty to their dear homeland, Egypt.

The Minister stressed that innovators are the ones who lead and make change in the future, so the Ministry is working within this framework in accordance with the directions of the Egyptian state, pointing out that technology is what enables students to produce knowledge, and the Ministry is working through the new educational system on education in order to produce knowledge. Pointing out that the Ministry’s strategic plan 2024/2029 places innovation, creators, and geniuses, discovering them, and nurturing them at the top of its priorities, pointing out that the Ministry has centers for innovators, and schools for outstanding students for science and technology, which aim to prepare young researchers, and students from the fourth grade of primary school to the third grade of secondary school in All schools prepare a research project every semester.

Dr. Reda Hegazy confirmed that the Ministry seeks to expand schools for outstanding students in science and technology (STEM), noting that these schools are concerned with learning outcomes and capstone projects undertaken by students in light of the major challenges facing the Egyptian state, noting that these schools aim to nurture outstanding students in science and mathematics. Engineering, technology, and attention to their abilities, applying new curricula and teaching methods based on investigative projects and the integrative approach to teaching, and achieving integration between science, mathematics, engineering, and technology curricula in a way that reveals the extent of the connection between these fields to prepare a student with the ability to design, creativity, and critical thinking, and provide students with cooperative learning skills. In addition to preparing a distinguished scientific base qualified for university education and scientific research.

The Minister also stressed the Ministry’s keenness to provide real education, and for the student to possess competencies, personal skills, future skills, research skills, lifelong learning, responsibility, independence, and perseverance, noting that the Ministry intends to hold a national conference to start a community dialogue on developing the high school stage, in terms of Curricula, university admission mechanisms, evaluation systems, and the student choosing the path appropriate to his inclinations and trends, with the freedom to change the path.

The Minister added that discovering talented and innovative people must come at an early stage, so the Ministry started the Entrepreneurship League project, addressing the students who participated in this program, congratulating them for going through this experience and excelling in it, and obtaining advanced positions, noting that the contract These activities come in appreciation of their love of learning and acquiring skills, which are among the most important points that the Ministry values, and encourages them to invest and develop them.

For his part, Dr. Diaa Khalil thanked Dr. Ayman Ashour for his continued support for the Fund, and his great interest in caring for innovators and geniuses in Egypt, congratulating all the winners of the Fund’s competitions, stressing that they are Egypt’s hope for the future, and they are the ones who bear the task of building modern Egypt.

Dr. Diaa Khalil confirmed that the Fund for Welfare of Innovators and Geniuses works to provide all possible support to innovators, geniuses, and entrepreneurs through various programs and competitions. With the aim of nurturing their creativity and developing their skills, he pointed out that the Fund received this year a large number of applications to participate in the Fund’s competitions, which varied between the fields of science, technology, engineering, social innovation, and business. The Fund’s competitions this year were won by a group of creative students who presented ideas. And innovative projects that contribute to solving development challenges in Egypt.

Dr. Zia explained that among these competitions and programs is the program for qualifying researchers for entrepreneurship (R2E) in universities, centers and research bodies. To provide them with the necessary skills to transform their innovative scientific research into economically viable products, 80 faculty and research faculty members were trained, and 37 of them graduated and are ready to start their emerging technology companies, noting that the Fund also cooperates with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education in implementing the IClub Innovation Club program. ; To create innovation clubs in schools, to spread the basics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property to students, explaining that 155 teachers were trained to membership and manage innovation clubs in STEM schools, and 650 students were trained on the basics of innovation and intellectual property, and provided financial support to develop 32 innovative ideas and projects, and the three centers were liquidated. The first was awarded with financial prizes (100 thousand pounds).

Dr. Diaa Khalil pointed out that the Innovation Motivation Competition targets innovative students at universities in various scientific disciplines, who have innovative ideas that provide solutions to current challenges in Egypt, explaining that the students receive various training programs, guidance sessions, guidance to develop their projects, and financial support of 40,000. EGP, pointing out that the Change Makers Competition aims to support initiatives submitted by student clubs and families to solve societal and environmental problems in accordance with Egypt’s Vision 2030.

At the conclusion of the events, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced the names of the winners and finalists of all the programs and competitions of the Innovators and Geniuses Fund for the year 2023, which include (the Innovation Motivation Competition, the Researcher Qualification Program for Entrepreneurship (R2E) in Egyptian universities and institutes, the Change Makers Competition, and the IClub Program for Innovative Students). In schools).

South Valley University won first place in the “Change Makers Competition,” followed by Pharos University in second place, then Ain Shams and Tanta Universities in third place equally.

The “Illusionists” team from Mansoura National University won first place in the Innovation Motivation Competition, followed by the Port Said University team No. 2 in second place, then the “Green Hydrogen” team from Beni Suef University came in third place.

The Eastern STEM School team won first place in the Innovation Clubs Competition for Innovative Students in Schools (IClub), the Western STEM School team came in second place, the Minya STEM School team took third place, and the Fayoum STEM School team won third place repeatedly.

The two ministers witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Innovators and Geniuses Fund and Enactus, and the protocol was signed by Dr. Diaa Khalil, CEO of the Innovators and Geniuses Fund, and Dr. Fatima Serry, CEO of Enactus Egypt.

On the sidelines of the honoring ceremony, the two ministers inspected two exhibitions that included a presentation of the final teams’ projects, whether for students of outstanding schools for science and technology (STEM) or university students. The inventions, innovations, and student projects included several diverse fields, including (medicine, energy, biochemistry, health, embedded systems, behavioral sciences, and agriculture). , renewable energy, and medical engineering), and the two ministers listened to the male and female students’ explanation of their projects, and stressed the importance of the students continuing their studies and developing their projects. To implement it on the ground to benefit society and the national economy.