UNICEF's Life Skills Framework Comes to Egypt: Interview with Manar Ahmed Sharouda

UNICEF partnered with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education to help integrate its Life Skills and Citizenship Education (LSCE) framework into the new curriculum. Education Specialist Manar Ahmed Sharouda, recounts how the much-needed reforms prioritized early childhood education, play-based learning, and inclusive education. The process of turning ideas and policies into practice faced challenges due to difficult local conditions, the lack of a proper change management system and communication strategy, and absence of adequate evidence and data from the ground. Moreover, the reforms were pushed from the top without being coupled with a bottom-up approach where the school is the unit of reform.