Teacher Excellence Initiative | 72026321RFA00004

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72026321RFA00004

The Teacher Excellence Initiative is a USAID-funded education opportunity in Egypt designed to strengthen how Egyptian public universities prepare primary school teachers. The core goal is to make teacher preparation more practical, relevant, and aligned with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MOETE) reform agenda, so that both current and future teachers are better equipped to raise student learning outcomes. Rather than focusing only on theory or coursework, the initiative emphasizes practice-based, experiential teaching approaches that can be applied directly in real classrooms and teacher training settings.

The program is organized around three main results. First, it aims to ensure that pre-service teachers enrolled in undergraduate programs at Faculties of Education graduate with the skills and knowledge to use experiential, practice-based methods in their teaching. Second, it targets in-service teachers who are pursuing postgraduate programs at Faculties of Education, with the expectation that they will also adopt and apply these hands-on instructional methods in their classrooms. Third, it seeks to improve the joint capacity of key national education bodies, specifically MOETE, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR), and the Supreme Council of Universities, so they can plan, manage, and adapt teacher education more effectively together. This third component highlights that the initiative is not only about improving individual teacher skills, but also about strengthening the coordination and governance that shapes teacher education across institutions.

Collaboration with the Government of Egypt is built into the design. The activity is expected to be implemented in partnership with MOETE, MOHESR, and other relevant government stakeholders, supporting MOETE's broader teacher professional development strategy and helping ensure reforms are adopted, institutionalized, and sustained. In addition, two cross-cutting themes are meant to run through all parts of the program: building stronger linkages between U.S. and Egyptian universities, and using technology to enhance teaching and learning within Faculties of Education. In practice, this signals an emphasis on international academic collaboration, knowledge exchange, and modern instructional tools as part of upgrading teacher preparation systems.

Administratively, this opportunity is a discretionary funding opportunity issued by USAID Egypt (USAID-Cairo) under the Agency for International Development. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means USAID anticipates substantial involvement during implementation compared with a standard grant. The funding opportunity number is 72026321RFA00004, the CFDA number is 98.001, and the activity category is education. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of entity types may apply, subject to any limits that may appear in the full eligibility section of the official notice.

In terms of scale and competition, USAID anticipated making a single award, with an award ceiling of $49,500,000. The opportunity was created on August 19, 2021, with an original closing date of October 18, 2021. Overall, the initiative is framed as a large, system-oriented investment intended to reshape teacher preparation in Egyptian public universities, improve classroom practice for both new and current teachers, and strengthen the government institutions responsible for steering teacher education reform.

• The Agency for International Development, Egypt USAID-Cairo in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Teacher Excellence Initiative" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 19, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 18, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $49,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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