Faculty members of Egyptian state universities will begin a strike on Saturday in response to the decisions of the General Conference of Universities of September 11. Researchers will be joining the strike at the National Center for Research, who aim to get rid of remnants of the old regime. Head of the Conference of faculty members Sherif Hamid said the protesters will include all universities and they will be giving out posters in the universities among students and staff explaining the reasons of their strike. In the second week of rallies at universities, in coordination with the Federation of Egyptian, student movements were organized. In the third week, the marches moved to university administrations to begin a partial sit-in in front of the university administrations. Hamid accused Egyptian Minister of Higher Education Moataz Khurshid of not paying real attention to the demands of university staff. Faculty members do not seek immediate solutions to their demands for salary increase, an increase in the budget for scientific research and improving the conditions of teaching assistants. But there are demands for a fixed timetable schedule with a clear plan of when the demands can be achieved. Head of the National Center for Research Ashraf Shaalan and some researchers decided to engage in a strike tomorrow to claim the raises promised by the Minister of Higher Education that they did not receive. The nationwide teachers' strike still continue for the third consecutive week and threatening to stage a million-man march in front of Ministry of Education headquarters on October 8 if the situation is not addressed by authorities. The Independent Teachers Union spokesman Ayman el-Bialy criticized the government's response to the strikes. “All they have given us are empty statements and promises," he said The Independent Teacher's Union will resort to new methods of increasing protests against the Minister of Education, Hassan Ahmed. Black badges will be given to members to wear in classes with the slogan, "Yes to purging of the Ministry of Education." Art exhibitions will be held in public squares to express the teachers' desire for change. On Saturday October 1, the Egyptian revolutionaries committee will be meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Education to find solutions to the teachers' problems.
