Red Sea says 74,000 joined free public courses from July to September

More than 74,000 Red Sea residents took part in free courses, seminars and workshops between 1 July and 30 September under the national "I Am a Lifelong Learner" initiative, Red Sea governor Walid El-Borgy has announced.

That takes participation to about 152,000 since the initiative began in the governorate in January, on the governorate's own figures: 17,000 in the first quarter, 50,000 in the second and more than 74,000 in the third.

What the governorate listed for the third quarter

• Misr Public Library: 473 activities for 40,323 participants, among them job-market readiness courses, first aid, sign language and handicraft workshops
• Health affairs directorate: 4,150 awareness talks for 28,755 people
• Hurghada University: 6,445 students and postgraduate researchers at workshops and academic sessions
• Social solidarity directorate: 35 awareness seminars on family, childhood and women's affairs, along with literacy classes, medical convoys and 11,296 home visits by social workers
• Environment bodies: 34 field events, including tree planting and clean-ups of beaches and islands that took in Abu Minqar Island
• National Council for Women: 43 events and meetings, plus national identity cards issued to women who are sole family earners, with 1,885 beneficiaries in total
• Governorate population unit: 45 activities, including programmes against school dropout and illiteracy, for 1,514 participants

Deputy governor Magda Hanna said the work was extended in particular to the southern cities of Halayeb, Shalatin and Marsa Alam.

The announcement did not say where the courses are held or how residents can sign up.