CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Moataz Khurshid, said he began work in the ministry by meeting with the masters and doctoral degree students to solve their problems. He pointed out the higher education needs to be restructured in light of the current political changes in Egypt. "We aim to increase rates of enrollment in the higher education by raising the capacity of universities and taking the opportunity to improve the quality of Egyptian universities," Khurshid said during an interview with TV host, Sherif Amer, on ‘El-Hayat El-Youm' program. Khurshid said the former regime reduced the political role of university professors and confined their role to just teaching. He added the new university heads and faculty deans must be chosen before the start of the academic year. "We are still waiting for a decree from Egypt's ruling military council to amend the Universities Act and the rules for choosing university heads," Khurshid said. “You can't please everyone when it comes to choosing the heads of universities. The elections in the faculty of literature in Cairo University are experimental. But regardless of how they are chosen, it is crucial to select new heads, unassociated with the former regime." He also stressed his focus and interest in scientific research just as significant as his interest in higher education.
