CAIRO: Students at Ain Shams University accused the university administration of withholding their grades for three days to force them to use a new hotline costing LE 1.50 per minute. The hotline allows students to receive their final grades by calling 1145 or 09000845 then keying in their exam ID numbers. The only other option was to wait in suspense for three days until the respective faculties posted the grades at the university. Students voiced their frustration, claiming that administration delayed posting the results at the university knowing that students would not be able to wait and would resort to calling the hotline. Those who did call in complained that it took at least five to 10 minutes to obtain their results while others said the line cut off repeatedly, which meant they had to call several times accumulating the charges. To voice their frustration, a group of students launched an initiative and sent a complaint to the Higher Council of Universities. They also sent a copy of their complaint to various talk shows like Dream TV's "Al-Ashera Masaan and Orbit's "Al-Qahira Al-Youm, saying university officials "took advantage of students. "We have received the students' complaints and we are reconsidering our contract with the [call center], Atef El-Awam, head of student affairs at Ain Shams University, told Daily News Egypt. El-Awam explained that the proceedings from the hotline were allocated to the university hospitals. The value of the contract between the university and the hotline provider is reportedly LE 12 million, but this number was not confirmed by the university. Reham Samy, a student at Ain Shams University, was critical of the new system, saying that it was easier and cheaper to obtain the final results through the internet. Students also complained that even if they decide to boycott this new hotline, it is unfair to make them wait three days to know their final grades.
