Amira El-Noshokaty was excited to find out there is now a university in Sinai In the lab Professor Mohamed Mahmoud is busy elucidating the discovery of ammonia; young scientists bustle about in their white coats, staring at tubes and jotting down observations. "I came here to teach because of the facilities," the professor says, "which are greater than any I've seen in a government university." Occupying 64 sq km at the edge of Al-Arish, Sinai's first university -- a private enterprise originally intended to be non-profit and sustaining a strong sense of civic responsibility -- comprises 14 departments and five research centres. Together with 21 scholars, Hassan Rateb, on founding the university two years ago, hit a legal roadblock: a university cannot be non-profit if it is to be officially recognised -- hence the private-sector designation. "Sinai," says Hassan Sherif, deputy director of Sinai University for Graduate Studies, "is one of the wealthiest, least exploited parts of Egypt. Given the demographic imbalance with some 70 million occupying four percent of the land, it's a thought for the future. Starting in the 1990s, a national development project for Sinai has achieved some, not all, of its goals." Sherif explained how the faculties were determined with the surroundings long-term benefits in view: the Faculty of Pharmacy, for example, has an "and pharmaceutical industries" appended to its name, reflecting the fact that Sinai is a treasure trove of medicinal herbs; a small educational plant in which the students experiment will eventually produce medicines in the university's own name. Likewise the Faculty of Technology, Energy and Mining: not only are the underground treasures being explored, the students are also experimenting with solar energy. IT is working on silica, agriculture fine-tuning work-and-own development strategies, with the students cultivating a plot of land with a view to owning it on graduation. The university has its own hostel housing students and professors. The space had been a tourist resort before the university acquired it, and it boasts not only spacious halls of residence but swimming pools, a theatre, stables and plenty of land. How large is the student population? Israa Khalil, for one, feels it could be much larger. Originally from Al-Arish, after completing her secondary education abroad, Khalil was delighted to be able to study at her hometown, where she can live with her grandmother; she pays some LE25,000 per academic year. For Lilian Edward, a pharmacy freshman from Cairo, "the facilities are particularly impressive, and it's possible to study herbs that grow nowhere else in the world. It's also cheaper than other private universities." Marco Tadros, on the other hand, came here because he did not achieve the 80 per cent grade average required for private universities in Egypt; Sinai University had widened the margin for its first year only, accepting 75 per cent. Dina Ibrahim, a dentistry freshman from Minya, found distance from home a real challenge. Her family had been reluctant "until my father came up here and saw for himself, thinking it far more appropriate than private universities in Cairo, say." Ibrahim had planned on transferring back to Minya, but after a relation of hers joined her and she experienced the place, she decided to stay on: "The professors are alert to our needs. We get a printout of the class at the end of each lecture, for example. Actually we just love it here." It is a sentiment shared by many others. "During our first school year," Sherif says, "we were able to bring in some 600 students from Alexandria to Aswan. At present, out of 600 students, we have 100 on scholarships of different kinds. We even promote the student-loan idea..." Heading south WHILE the university promises to alter the socio-economic constitution of North Sinai, there are wide-ranging development plans for the south of the peninsula. A heaven for hikers, campers and divers, and home to over 60,000 in addition to as many residents who work there but have not registered their change of address, South Sinai's sustainable development agenda, implemented by the South Sinai Regional Development Programme (SSRDP) on a 64 million Euro budget from the EU, involves capacity building and the environment as well as the preservation of cultural heritage, according to Khaled Metwalli, the SSRDP project manager. Multi- disciplinary development should engage both the government and NGOs in the effort to launch a pilot project that can be replicated, to be accomplished by 2010: "This project has two main components. The first targets the infrastructure, providing water around St Catherine and in the Wadi Firan villages, as well as drainage in Wadi Al-Tor. Eight tankers and 710 reservoirs will be installed in the desert separating Al-Tor from Sharm El-Sheikh. Infrastructure work also provides for a system of monitoring the area's protectorates to make sure only eco-tourism is practised, and implementing a solid waste disposal plan. The second component involves complete grant and small-scale projects for the benefit of the Bedouins, undertaken through the government with help from tribal chiefs."
