Egypt, Japan partner to bring financial literacy into secondary schools

CAIRO - 28 April 2026:  Egypt has launched a new step toward modernizing its education system with the signing of a memorandum of understanding to introduce a financial literacy curriculum for secondary school students.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday at the Egyptian Exchange headquarters in downtown Cairo, bringing together the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, the Financial Regulatory Authority, Japan’s Sprix Inc., and Hiroshima University.

The initiative aims to equip students with practical knowledge of saving, investment, entrepreneurship, financial decision-making, and the role of capital markets, helping build a generation that is more financially aware and better prepared for the future.

Under the program, financial literacy will be introduced for second-year secondary students as an activity on the programming and artificial intelligence platform, rather than as a pass-or-fail subject. Students who successfully complete the program will be registered at the Egyptian Exchange and provided with an investment wallet worth EGP 500, allowing them to experience supervised real trading in the stock market.

Minister of Education Mohamed Abdel Latif said the program marks a shift from teaching economics theoretically to allowing students to practice it within a real economic environment. He stressed that the goal is to move students from simply receiving information to actively making decisions, understanding risk, and learning how value is created.

EGX Chairman Omar Reda said the stock exchange’s participation reflects its commitment to building financial awareness among young people and linking education with the economy. He noted that the Egyptian Exchange attracted around 160,000 new investors in the first quarter of 2026, nearly 200% higher than the same period last year.

FRA Chairman Islam Azzam said integrating financial literacy into education is essential to empowering young people and helping them make sound investment decisions, especially amid growing youth participation in capital markets and digital financial services.

The agreement also strengthens Egypt’s educational cooperation with Japan. Hiroshima University will support the academic quality of the program, while Sprix will provide digital assessment tools and technical expertise through the TOFAS system, which measures students’ fundamental academic and financial literacy skills.

Officials said the initiative supports Egypt’s wider goals of developing human capital, expanding financial inclusion, and preparing students for the changing demands of the economy and labor market.

The program represents a practical step toward transforming financial education from theoretical lessons into real-life experience, giving students early exposure to investment, responsibility, and informed decision-making.