Five companies win tender for phase one development of 200 PPP schools: The Education Ministry has chosen five companies to develop the first of 200 schools under a public-private partnership framework and has sent the list of winning companies to the Ismail Cabinet for approval, according to Education Ministry advisor Sherine Matar says. Matar did not name names, but government sources had said earlier this month that El Gazeera, the Middle East Education Services Group, and CIRA were among seven shortlisted bidders. Work on developing the 21 schools is expected to begin as soon as Cabinet signs off on the result of the tender; the schools should open their doors to students by next year, according to Matar. The government is also gearing up to issue tenders for the second phase of the PPP schools program.