President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi honoured 27 of the country's outstanding university graduates in a ceremony conducted at Cairo University on 28 September. The students included graduates of 20 state universities, and Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, Minister of Youth Khaled Abdel-Aziz, Minister of Higher Education Ahmed Abdel-Khaleq, and President of Cairo University Gaber Nassar attended the ceremony, together with an audience of university students. In his speech, the president stressed the role of young people in building the country's future. He also paid tribute to the late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser on the anniversary of his death and said that the ceremony would now be conducted on an annual basis. He added that Egypt's universities could nurture the country's renaissance and advancement. Al-Sisi stressed the country's interest in implementing measures to allow the universities to fulfill their role in disseminating the message of science and enlightenment as well as raising the level of awareness and active participation of Egyptian university students in all walks of life. He pointed to the importance of improving the academic life of students and increasing their participation in enhancing the academic performance of their universities to bring them into line with international standards. At the same time, he urged students to view the universities as places of education. “University institutions are for education and not for harmful activities,” Al-Sisi said, adding that the country was seeking ways to enhance communication with its young people. “I want Egypt's youth to be by my side. I love Egypt's youth and consider them to be my children,” he said. The president also announced that 50 per cent of the country's specialised councils would from now on include representatives of the country's youth and would be under the auspices of the presidency. He said the councils would play an active role in the presidency, ministries and governorates, and he urged young people to participate fully in national projects such as the Suez Canal project. President Al-Sisi said that he wanted to double the number of Egyptian students studying abroad. He called on the assembled students, gathered at the beginning of the academic year, to focus on their studies and not to engage in negative activities or follow destructive thoughts that could undermine the nation. At the end of the ceremony, he asked for a photograph to be taken of the civilian college graduates with their colleagues from the military college who had also attended the ceremony. The president said the photograph was “the embodiment of the meaning of solidarity among all members of Egyptian society and a symbol of mutual unity and pride among the people, the Armed Forces and the police.” The president's speech comes at a time that a new university law has come under fire from various commentators due to its giving university presidents the right to sack university teachers if they urge their students on to violent acts. Recent decisions taken by the Ministry of Education against political activity on campuses have also led to reactions among observers. As a result of the speech, Cairo University was closed for two days and staff members were given the time off. The streets surrounding the university were closed to traffic ahead of the president's visit. Aleya Al-Mahdi, a university professor, said that Al-Sisi's speech was a message to the world and would strengthen Egyptian pride in the president further after his earlier performance at the UN General Assembly in New York. Al-Mahdi added that the president's presence at the university before the new academic year had indicated the personal interest he took in the life of the country's universities. “The universities have a symbolic position inside and outside Egypt, and they are essential parts of Egypt's renaissance,” she said.
