Farouk Ismail, the Chairman of the Shura Council's Committee on Education and Scientific Research, criticized the system of appointing deans of faculties and heads of universities based on security reports and political goals. He called for appointing faculty deans and university presidents through elections. In his speech before a forum organized by the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences under the title "Political parties' visions for developing higher education in Egypt", Ismail said he expected Higher Education Minister Hani Hilal to file a special bill on higher institutes, which were described by Ismail as a major catastrophe, but this did not happen. These institutions are in need of a new law instead of the current one (52 of 1970) so that they would not be affiliated to the Ministry of Higher Education, he said. Universities should be independent financially, he affirmed, adding that the state's appropriations for education have been reduced over the past three years, he said. The percentage of students in Secondary School literary section is 72% against 28% only for scientific section, which used to account for 70% of students in 1994.
This led to an increase in the number of theoretical faculties' graduates in a way that exceeds the market's needs. The Faculty of Commerce, for example, graduates 62,000 students annually, Ismail said, pointing out that Egypt has 17 universities and seven branches while it needs, in fact, 80 universities. Ismail denied that the Shura Council rubberstamps the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)'s demands, as it coordinates with the People's Assembly and the NDP.
For his part, Dr. Abdel Moneim al-Aasar, the head of the Egyptian Greens Party, called for paying much attention to technical education because it is the real engine of development in any country.
