Universities in the doldrums after cuts in dorm fees

A recent decision by Egypt’s military-installed government to scrap monthly fees for students staying in university dormitories has added to the financial woes of the country’s public higher education institutions.

The decision, on which presidents of universities said they had not been consulted, is the latest in a series of populist moves by the government that was appointed after the military deposed democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

State-run universities, already suffering a drop in financial resources, said they had yet to be told how the decision would be carried out.

“We have not received the executive rules for implementing this decision,” said Professor Yasser Sakr, president of the Cairo-based Helwan University.

“The Higher Council for Universities has addressed the governmental agencies concerned, asking them to help solve the financial problems facing universities and their dormitories,” added Sakr, who is in charge of dorm affairs at the council, a statutory agency responsible for higher education.

“We need alternatives to narrow the gap between the real cost incurred by universities for students’ accommodation in dorms, and the small subsidy offered by the state.”

According to university administrations, a student in Egypt is charged LE70 (US$10) to LE150 per month – depending on the service – for accommodation in a university dormitory, but the real costs are around LE800 per student. Thus the state subsidy accounts for about 15% of the overall cost, with the remainder borne by university budgets.

“Even before student exemptions from dorm fees, the Finance Ministry had already cut 25% off state allocations for universities,” said Professor Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University, Egypt’s biggest higher education institution.

Nassar added in press remarks that Cairo University had suffered a shortfall of around LE500 million in its budget for the current academic year.

There are no official figures on how many students are accommodated in state-run dorms, where university officials say they are provided with meals including meat or fish on a daily basis.

Short of money, several of Egypt’s 20 public universities have reported trouble in providing dormitory accommodation for all applicants. Some institutions, including Cairo University, could not give students access to dorms as scheduled, due to incomplete maintenance works.

“The delay in accommodating students is due to disruption in maintaining dorm buildings because of the protest camp that was held by Morsi’s supporters for 58 days near the buildings,” said Nassar.

Hundreds of the Islamist former president's backers, protesting his ouster, had camped out in the vicinity of Cairo University south of the Egyptian capital until mid-August.

Then security forces cracked down on them and another protest camp east of Cairo in a deadly evacuation that sparked violent protests across the country and drew international condemnation.

Since the new academic year began on 21 September, several universities have been hit by violent clashes between students backing and opposing Morsi.

The government has accused Morsi's Brotherhood of ‘manipulating’ university students to cause unrest at academic institutions.

Al-Azhar University, a state-run Islamic seminary based in Cairo with branches around the country, postponed classes until 19 October, citing incomplete maintenance work at its student residences.