Arab Teachers Leading the Way: Empowering Youth Entrepreneurs with IP Education

April 11, 2024

Over 30 curricula developers and educators, 80% of which were women, benefitted from a three-day training seminar on integrating intellectual property (IP), innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship education into school curricula. The seminar was held in Arabic and English from March 3 to 5, 2024 in Cairo, Egypt.

The seminar was jointly organized by the WIPO Academy, the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, and the National IP Academy of Egypt to equip curricula setters and teachers with the knowledge and tools needed to inject IP education into classrooms across the Arab region. The participants selected for the seminar represented six Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, and have a significant reach and multiplier impact as they are responsible for 4,500 teachers and 2,300,000 school students. The educators also represented a wide range of expertise, from humanities to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

What did the seminar cover?

The seminar is part of a three-phase IP4Youth&Teachers program combining online and in-person learning. The first phase comprises online training activities including the WIPO Academy Primer on IP course in Arabic, which is followed by the in-person seminar in Egypt, and the final certification phase involving the development of comprehensive IP lesson plans.

Through the program, educators benefitted from the unique opportunity to gain IP pedagogical tools, practice IP teaching through exercises and mini projects, develop customized lesson plans they can use in their classrooms, network, and learn from the experiences of their peers. The seminar covered topics such as:

• Out of the box thinking and invention principles with the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ);
• Teaching copyright and related rights, trademarks and industrial designs, patents and utility models;
• How to teach the youth about IP as a value creation tool for entrepreneurship; and
• Developing IP lesson plans and learning outcomes.

A special focus was given to the entrepreneurship education component of the training seminar, emphasizing the importance of IP in entrepreneurship, and bringing innovative products to the market.

At the end of the seminar, participants met 14-year-old Somaia Suleiman, an Egyptian high-school student who is passionate about IP and actively shares her IP-knowledge with peers. She invented a robot which detects plant diseases and is in the process of patenting her innovation.

What the teachers are saying?

My experience during the in-person seminar was a fruitful opportunity to explore the world of intellectual property (IP) and expand my view of this field. My expectations were high, but surprisingly these expectations were exceeded thanks to the valuable and diverse content of the seminar. I will apply what I learned in my classroom and teach creativity and IP in an attractive way to my students.

Wided Boudrigua, STEM Teacher (Tunisia)

My view of intellectual property (IP) was previously limited to it being a domain for lawyers, but after participating in this seminar, I now understand the importance of IP in supporting creativity and innovation for everyone. Including creativity, innovation and IP education in schools should not be a luxury, because it is a catalyst for economic growth and development. Traditional education alone is insufficient for achieving a comprehensive renaissance of our future generations. I will work on including IP education in schools.

Sayed Sabry Sayed Othman, Mathematics Teacher (Egypt)

The experiences and methodologies addressed during the training seminar delivered by the experts exceeded my expectations and gave me a fresh outlook on the ways I can modify my approach to teaching. I now know how to teach creativity and intellectual property in an engaging way.

Hanan Hosni Ahmed Abou Rashid, Information Technology Teacher (Jordan)