‘Classes are closed indefinitely'. This sign was last week hung on the main gate of Ain Shams University, one of Egypt 's biggest academic institutions, in the aftermath of repeated incidents of violence on campus. Scores of students were injured in clashes that erupted twice in one week among rival groups at the Cairo-based university. Rocks and knives were used in the violence, which reportedly broke out for a third time during a visit made last week by Minister of Higher Education Mustafa Mossad to the institution. The violence forced the Minister to curt short his inspection tour and leave the place. Thugs were involved in the fighting, according to media reports, which cited rife drug taking among the student community. Ain Shams University is not the only educational institution to have descended into turmoil in recent months. Weeks earlier, Misr International University, a private-sector institution, was forced to close down following bloody clashes between angry students and security guards. The university's administration and students blamed each other for the unrest. Minister Mossad stepped in to defuse the tensions and ensure the resumption of classes. Earlier this month, the state-owned Mansura University in the Nile Delta was the scene of pitched battles among students. The fighting, which left dozens hurt, followed the killing of a female student on campus, allegedly when she was run over by a professor's car. Islamist students accused the university's administration of covering up the accident purportedly to ensure that the suspect would escape punishment. Dozens of Islamist students, reportedly backed by colleagues from outside the university, surrounded administrative buildings, besieging the employees inside for several hours, in protest against the alleged cover-up. The act angered other students, who clashed with the Islamists, prompting a two-day closure of the university. Clashes, meanwhile, broke out among students at Cairo University's Pharmacology Faculty where some students have been camping out for days, demanding the dean's replacement. The unrest at several of the nation's universities has prompted some academics to call for putting police again in charge of securing these institutions. The controversial call comes more than two years after a court ordered the police's removal from the universities because of the security agencies' notoriety for intimidating opposition students and academics. With the police yet to recover from their collapse at the climax of the 2011 revolt against Hosni Mubarak, they are unlikely to reappear on campus. Besides, the public, including students, continue to mistrust security agencies as recent street clashes between anti-government protesters and the police have shown. Security agencies are still perceived to be an oppressive tool, as they were before the anti-Mubarak uprising. Hopes are now pinned on private security companies, which will be hired to restore order on campus – a task that is arguably daunting. With insecurity becoming endemic in several parts of the nation, the culture of violence has sneaked onto the campuses, disrupting traditionally amicable relations between students and their teachers. Aggressive behaviour is increasingly the norm on campus. Curbing street turmoil and political polarisation is imperative for restoring peace to educational institutions. Will politicians help undo the havoc they have wrought on the nation, including its once-prestigious universities?
