My teacher - and friend as well - Dr. Yahya al-Jamal was fond of talking about the collapse of conditions in Egypt. As for my friend Dr. Osama El-Ghazali Harb, he always starts talking about partisan and non-partisan issues by saying that Egypt is experiencing the worst times in its long history. Usually the starting point in this tragic diagnosis is the example of the University of Cairo, which had a high regard and reputation among universities in the world and was referred to as an outstanding institution of higher education in the world in previous eras. It now fails to enter a list of the top five hundred of the universities in the world according to the classification of one of the international institutions in Shanghai.
Despite the fact that my friend has not referred to the number of universities in the world in earlier times and their number now, so that the picture will be complete at least, what they raise remains a cause for sorrow, grief and shame as there is no university in Egypt in the list.
But the issue in public debate is doesn't go beyond score points and a drawing of the tragic consequences, which could be accepted in press reports, but often does not work when coming from leaders of political parties whose role is to issue policies to society. So what has made the University of Cairo and other Egyptian universities, fail to reach a global level is an essential part of the competitive criteria for attention in the era of science and knowledge. The question is urged to friends, even if the answer would not be comfortable for anyone. Who knows maybe it would open the gates of hell, the story no one wants to talk about is twofold: first, we failed to catch up with the Chinese list of universities due to the large number of students as Cairo University has 232,202 (two hundred and thirty-two thousand two hundred and two students, or more than the number of citizens of the State of Qatar).
Ain Shams University has 208,053 (two hundred and eight thousand and fifty-three students which are also more than the number of citizens of the State of Qatar), and the University of Alexandria has 171,165 (one hundred and seventy-one thousand one hundred and sixty-five students and the number is still more than the State of Qatar), The University of Assiut has 70,794 (seventy thousand seven hundred and ninety-four students). Such numbers do not exist in the universities on the list of the top five hundred universities in the world which resulted in this dramatic situation which caused this failure in Egypt and resulted in Egypt being at its worst periods. And if we measured the ratio of these numbers to the budget or total area, and the number of teachers, classrooms and laboratories and scientific research institutions and, of course the quality of academic programs that are commensurate with these numbers, the question becomes not whether the Egyptian universities has reached the top of the list, but the real miracle is that these universities continue to support the community, and the Gulf Arab states with what they need from engineers to accountants, doctors, teachers, judges and workers in banks and institutions. The second aspect of the case is that universities with such large numbers are the natural result of free university education. When the State does not find sufficient resources to subsidize bread it reduces its size without a price increase or reduces the quality so the subsidy remains within the norm. When the State is unable to increase the budget of college education they accept more students who are a load on the education system and the system of secondary education, which is corrective and many parents are happy that their children have free access to university degrees which is the first important step on the road to collapse or unfavorable times. But my friends do not want to open the gates of hell starting with the secondary public school system, free university education or even universities with large numbers.
Perhaps it is not a coincidence that many youngsters settled in the elite American University in Cairo, where the number of students is 5,577 (five thousand five hundred and seventy-seven students), each of them has more space than a dozen at the University of Cairo, and all of them get ten times the wage. It is thus clear; whoever wants to stop the collapse, or improve these times has to open all the files!
