EGYPT: Popular calls for sweeping university reforms

Following the political tsunami of change that resulted in the 11 February resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years in power, academics and researchers are calling for sweeping reforms of higher education policies and work conditions.

Last weekend the higher education community issued a call to Egypt's Supreme Council of Universities for the democratisation of universities. Headed by the Minister of Higher Education, the council drafts university and research policies and coordinates public universities.

Calls for reform have come from groups such as University Staff for Reform and the 9 March Movement for the independence of universities.

They are among a range of groups - including Doctors without Rights, the Independent Teachers' Syndicate and the Coalition of Independent Culture Institutions - that have come together to form what has become known as the 'Professionals Coalition'.

Other organisations have also formed over the years in response to the many challenges faced by higher education in Egypt, including Biokmt ('black land' in hieroglyphics, the ancient Egyptian language), which works to improve the status of scientists and support research.

The higher education groups have called for democracy in universities, including appointing university presidents and deans through elections.

Some professors argue that electing university leaders is the best way to achieve transparency in appointments, while others think that selecting presidents, deans or department heads should be a competitive rather than a democratic process.

The community called for the creation of a search committee, comprising well-qualified people with no conflicts of interest, to develop criteria for an application, process and scoring system. The committee should be responsible for finding academics suitable for top jobs, putting forward at least three names and leaving the selection up to the authorised person.

The calls also stressed the need for compliance with the October 2010 ruling issued by the High Administrative Court that ordered police units to be removed from campuses and be replaced by civilian guards. Ministry of the Interior police units have had a presence on campuses since the 1980s, and have been accused of interfering in university affairs.

Some higher education groups have expressed anger towards Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal, who was appointed in 2006 and retained his post in the new government formed during the last days of the Mubarak regime.

One complaint has been that he failed to keep promises to raise basic salaries or even regularly provide the modest, conditional pay rises announced by the government in 2008 in the wake of a strike by university staff.

The 23 March 2008 revolt was the first strike action by professors in Egypt, and they demanded better financial and social status, immediate doubling of salaries of professors and their assistants, better pensions, increased support for universities and research, and new public universities.

Teaching staff have long complained that poor wages coupled with chronic government under-funding of public universities have led to deterioration in academic standards.

Helal also came under criticism for his position on the niqab (full face veil), which was seen by many to violate personal and religious freedoms. He banned women from wearing the niqab in lecture halls, university dormitories and examinations

Many in the higher education community have also condemned the banning of students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties from running in student union elections. Changes to the statute governing student elections undermined students' freedom to engage in political activity, according to a 2008 report by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression.

One reflection of inappropriate or under-performing higher education is that while Egypt has one of the world's oldest universities, Al-Azhar, the country's institutions do not rate highly in global rankings.

According to a 2010 survey by the OECD and World Bank, Egypt's higher education system is not serving the country's needs well, and without far-reaching reform this will hamper economic and social progress.

The OECD-World Bank report recommended that particular attention be paid to immediate needs for structural reforms, more flexibility and efficiency in governance and institutional management, and increasing the capacity of the higher education system to deliver relevant education to a broader range of students.

Linked to the coalition proposals, scientists have issued a statement urging, among other things, democratisation of research centres though the election of their leaders and the creation of a ministry of science independent of the higher education ministry.

Official statistics indicate that some 40% of Egyptian students who study abroad do not return. To tackle the brain drain, scientists called for improvements to working conditions, salaries and employment regulations, arguing that a lack of resources and equipment is harming the development of science in the country. They also demanded a declaration of rights for Egyptian scientists.

Scientists are also calling on a new government to address major problems in the research sector, including lack of connection between science and development policies and limited investment in technology.

According to a study by the UK-based Thomson Reuters research performance analysis and interpretation group Evidence, published last year, Egypt produced only around 30,000 scientific papers between 1999 and 2008 - on average 3,000 a year - which is extremely small for a country of 85 million people. Also, Egypt generates 1,500 patents but only about 30 of them are transferred into products.

In a quick response, on 14 February Helal agreed to all requests from the National Research Centre, which is under his financial and administrative responsibility, and promised to send other suggestions to the ministers' council and military rulers.

"Following Egypt's popular revolution, while recognising reform efforts already made by the Egyptian government, it is time to push for real uprising to examine the problems facing the higher education and science and technology sectors in Egypt, as well as implementing plans and strategies for developing a knowledge-base economy," Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid, a researcher at Cairo's National Research Centre, told University World News.

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