UNESCO to help reform journalism education in Egypt

It also aims to provide recommendations to other journalism schools of the country, in line with the standards outlined in UNESCO's Model Curricula for Journalism Education.

In the framework of this project, UNESCO's Cairo office will support a needs-assessment study and two workshops with the goal to analyse the current status of journalism education in Egypt and in selected Arab countries. More than twenty research groups will be created to implement the task with about fifty researchers involved in the preparation of a study on the status of journalism education and communication research. The study, which is to be published in English and Arabic in mid-2011, will serve as a basis for further action.

Restructuring journalism education in Egypt

The findings of the needs-assessment study will be discussed at an international conference to be held in October 2011. The conference is expected to provide a platform for exchange and discussion about modern curricula for journalism education, and to formulate recommendations on restructuring journalism education in Egypt using UNESCO's Model Curricula.

The Cairo University's Faculty of Communication will then follow the conference recommendations and guidelines to reform its curricula for 2012 and beyond. The conference output will also be made available to other higher education institutions through a local body responsible for the university accreditation in Egypt.