Al Azhar University and the British Council Celebratethe Graduation of the English Training Centre (AAETC) fourth cohort
A ceremony was held today to hail the success of 100 Al Azhar students at the Mohammad Abdu Hall, Darasa Campus. The ceremony was witnessed by Vice Grand Imam, Dr Abbas Shoman; Vice President of the Al Azhar University, Dr Ibrahim Al-Hudhud; Vice President of Al Azhar University – Tanta branch, Dr Ahmed Hosny; and Director of English, British Council Egypt, Mr Jonathan Gayther. All 100 students were presented with their joint honour degrees in English and either Theology, Hadith (Islamic tradition), Tafsir (Interpretation of the Quran), Quranic Studies, Usul Fikh (Jurisprudence) or Law.
The fourth cohort of students graduated successfully from the Al Azhar English Training Centre (AAETC). As well as providing English language tuition, the centre offers specialist courses to students of Islamic Studies, enabling students to more effectively communicate the message of Al Azhar across national and linguistic borders. The centre consists of a teaching team of 16 teachers and management team of four, currently providing courses for over 500 students.
The high standards of teaching and learning at AAETC have provided an opportunity of a lifetime for students to take opportunities for study in the UK. Five graduates from the centre have attained scholarships to undertake Master’s degrees in the UK; one of these is now pursuing his doctorate and teaching Islamic History at Oxford University.
Building on the success of the Al Azhar English Training Centre, three years ago we expanded our partnership with Al Azhar to include the Al Azhar Institutes secondary schools in 10 governorates around Egypt. 16 teachers in these secondary schools were initially chosen and provided with teacher training and support. This initial group of Azhari secondary English teachers has continued to the next level of their training, undertaking a British Council certificate in secondary education. They have now been joined by 19 new teachers from Al Azhar Institutes who have recently successfully completed a course in professional development.
In order to provide the support necessary for the teachers who are new to our Al Azhar Institutes programme, we have also provided professional teacher training to 13 regional and 4 national school inspectors. We are also currently planning to train these supervisors as mentors for our teachers.
As well as this, we have been engaged in a process of exam development with Al Azhar Institutes, moving to new skills-based exams which test the communicative abilities of students. This development has led to a significant improvement in the results achieved in these exams, with a higher percentage of students taking and passing higher level exams.
###
For further information please contact:
Rose Marie Gad, Communication Manager, British Council Egypt
Tel: +(202) 3344 3076