Luxor: Jasour – News Desk
Luxor Governor Abdel-Mutaleb Amara participated in laying the foundation stone for the extension and expansion of the Young Scholars Academy for Special Needs on Thursday evening. The ceremony was attended by Hana Helmi, CEO of EFG Social Development Foundation, which funds and implements the academy, as part of the presidential initiative to develop and support the Egyptian rural villages “Decent Life”.
The academy is a nursery for children with four classes for healthy children using the Montessori system and four classes for special needs children, including integration classes for children aged two and a half years and older. The current academic class includes about 140 children, half of whom are special needs, under the full supervision of the Social Solidarity Directorate and EFG Social Development Foundation (formerly Hermes). The academy employs 50 teachers from the village.
The academy was inaugurated in Isna in 2019 and has served around 500 children, graduating five classes. Due to waiting lists and significant demand, a new building foundation stone was laid to serve more children and reduce waiting lists for special needs.
The ceremony was attended by Dr. Hesham Abu Zeid, Deputy Governor of Luxor, Dr. Mohamed Rizk, Head of Isna Center and City, Mohamed Hussein, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, Sara Hefni, Project Manager at EFG Foundation, Engineer Mohamed Barakat, Hermes Project Consultant, Abdul Hamid Badr, Administrative Officer of the Academy, and Dr. Ashraf Abu Al-Ayoun, the project consultant and supervisor.
In this regard, Mohamed Hussein El-Gabali, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Luxor, stated that the Young Scholars Academy is one of the development projects in the village of Al-Deir and Nagaa El-Fawal within the presidential initiative “Decent Life”. Recently, the academy witnessed the graduation ceremony of children from early education using the Montessori Method, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, EFG Social Development Foundation, and Luxor Governorate.
He emphasized that the Young Scholars Academy is the first educational institution for early education providing educational services to special needs children using the Montessori Method.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Luxor added that the academy has successfully educated nearly 500 children since its inception, with 50% of the children being special needs from Nagaa El-Fawal and surrounding areas. The project has also trained and employed around 400 young men and women, qualifying them to teach children in early education using the Montessori Method and to work with special needs children. Among them, 50 women work as Montessori teachers within the academy.
