EGYPT: Jobless academics demand university posts

On obtaining a doctoral degree in ceramics in 2009, Hassan Mahmoud believed that his dream of becoming a lecturer at one of Egypt's 36 universities would come true. But he has been unable to find a job, and joined dozens of other PhD-holders who recently protested outside the headquarters of the cabinet in Cairo.

"Since then, I have been desperately looking for an academic position in my discipline, but it has been to no avail," Mahmoud said. "I applied for several academic jobs advertised in local newspapers. But all of my applications were not accepted."

Hassan is now working at a local ceramics factory in order to earn a living. "I have no other option. However, I hope this bad situation will change after the 25 January revolution, which was launched to establish the principle of equal opportunities," he said, referring to the popular revolt that ousted long-standing president Hosni Mubarak.

The protest group that Hassan joined, which calls itself the Coalition of Holders of Masters and Doctoral Degrees, is demanding employment at universities in Egypt. They carried a mock coffin draped in the national flag, as a symbol of the alleged death of academic equality.

Members of the group marched with the coffin from Cairo University, Egypt's prestigious public university in Giza, to cabinet headquarters in central Cairo. They distributed a statement, which they said they presented to the government around two months ago to draw its attention to their problem. They said they have not received a response.

"I thought that my doctorate degree, which I got with honours in natural geography in 2010, would open closed academic doors for me. But how dreamy I was," said Naser el-Dayash, another protestor. He said he had been unsuccessfully applying for academic jobs for months.

"The last time I applied was to the [governmental] University of South Valley, when it placed an advertisement for a vacancy in my specialisation in local newspapers. Much to my disappointment, they gave the job to another [person]," he added.

Naser, 35, blames favouritism for his dilemma and Egyptians who he said had no credentials other than "hard work". He claimed that job adverts placed by universities were fake.

"The advertisements are only a formality. Those who will occupy these positions are usually known in advance. They are mostly the children of professors," he claimed. "How come Egyptians toppled their president, who wanted to bequeath power on his son, while jobs at academic institutions continue to be hereditary? All this must be changed."

Shawki Saad, an unemployed holder of a PhD degree in sociology, suggested a solution to the problem. "University administrators should stop employing lecturers who teach at another university," he said. "In the same way, professors over 70 should not be hired as lecturers. Jobless specialists like us should be employed instead."

Since Mubarak's ouster in February, Egyptian universities have been gripped by protests pushing for radical changes in regulations governing the selection and appointment of university deans and leaders.

In an apparent bid to allay the anger of jobless high-level graduates, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has asked Minister of Higher Education Ezzat Salama to study an initiative in which unemployed PhDs and academics would be offered vacancies at governmental universities, reported the independent newspaper Al Shorouq.

Appointments to posts will be made through the Ministry of Higher Education to ensure fairness and quality, according to the newspaper. No official or independent figures are available on the number of unemployed academics in Egypt.