The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, in partnership with Al-Azhar Institutes, held the finals for the first-ever Al-Azhar National Spelling Bee Competition last Wednesday, Feb. 1. Over 300,000 kindergarten, primary, middle, and secondary school students from all governorates of Egypt participated in the spelling bee at the local, district, governorate, regional, and national levels.
At the closing ceremony, Ambassador Daniel Rubinstein, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and Professor El Dhweeny, Deputy to the Grand Imam, congratulated all the students who participated in the competition and awarded medals to the top three participants from each grade.
In his remarks, Ambassador Rubinstein highlighted the importance of spelling bees and U.S. support for education in Egypt, stating: Spelling bees help build vocabulary by introducing students to new words and ideas.
He added: The U.S. Embassy is proud to support English language education in Egypt as part of our broader support for education in Egypt.
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo’s cooperation with Al-Azhar Institutes in developing and implementing the first-ever national spelling bee in Egypt is only the latest initiative in the U.S. Government’s over $1.7 billion of support for education in Egypt since 1978.