Boeing and World Learning Are Cultivating a Modern Workforce in Algeria and Egypt

November 17, 2017

When aerospace giant Boeing sought to cultivate a modern workforce in Algeria and Egypt, World Learning was ready to heed the call. Between Boeing’s background in STEM education—Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics—and World Learning’s expertise in contextualizing curricula to meet local needs, the stage was set for a successful partnership.

Now, World Learning and Boeing are engaging hundreds of students of all ages in both countries, ensuring that the next generation workforce possesses the technical expertise and soft skills to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving job landscape.

CREATING AN INCLUSIVE NEXTGEN WORKFORCE IN EGYPT

In Egypt, Boeing and World Learning are teaming up to introduce the Boeing-supported “Curiosity Machine” curriculum to students nationwide.

The project-based platform is a perfect match for World Learning’s experiential learning philosophy: It presents students with real-world engineering design challenges, and encourages them to learn by discovering solutions in partnership with professional trainers and science teachers. This hands-on approach not only engages students—pushing them to learn both the how and the why of engineering—but it also links schoolwork more closely to professional work.

World Learning was well-positioned to introduce the Curiosity Machine in Egypt, having worked with the Ministry of Education for more than five years to open STEM-focused public secondary schools across the country. This past summer, World Learning launched the Curiosity Machine at 11 public STEM school summer camps in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Daqahleya, Assiut, Kafr El Sheikh, Ismaleya, Luxor, Red Sea, Menoufeya, and Gharbeya.

Boeing and World Learning are also working together to connect some of Egypt’s most marginalized populations with job opportunities. With a Boeing grant, World Learning is building the capacity of a local grassroots nonprofit, Light and Hope, to increase opportunities for people with sight disabilities. This program includes direct training for visually impaired people and their caretakers, plus training for the Light and Hope’s staff and board members, who will sustain the work in the years to come.

CURIOSITY RISING IN ALGERIA

Boeing’s Curiosity Machine was a fit for World Learning’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) center in Algiers, Algeria. Structured around real-world problems, the STEAM Center helps students make connections between school, community, and the global world of work.

Since it launched in April 2016, the STEAM Center has trained more than 900 students (including 150 who regularly participate in activities), and has taught 25 teachers across Algeria to bring interactive STEAM teaching approaches to their own classrooms. In July 2017, it sent a team of young tech enthusiasts to the US to participate in the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge.

Boeing’s support and cutting-edge learning platform is at the heart of the center’s success. Yakdane Bakelli, Curiosity Machine Head Mentor, says the program quickly became one of the STEAM Center’s more popular offerings. “It adds a high value of creativity and engineering to students,” he says. “Even when we have a break, some students refuse to rest, preferring to work to find a solution. Generally, those students are the ones who were reserved at the beginning of the workshop.”

Bernard Dunn, president of Boeing Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey, says the company is proud to bring the Curiosity Machine to classrooms:

“By investing in high-quality, engaging education, Boeing is committed to empowering and inspiring a new generation to explore the fields of STEM and aerospace engineering.”