The Supreme Council of Universities held its regular meeting, on Saturday 20 February 2021, headed by Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and in the presence of Dr. Tarek Shawky, Minister of Education and Technical Education, Dr. Mohamed Latif, Secretary General of the Council, and the members of the Council, at the headquarters of Helwan University in Cairo.

The Council thanked Helwan University for hosting the meeting of the Supreme Council of Universities.

The Council confirmed the start of the second semester, and the completion of the postponed examinations from the first semester on Saturday, February 27, in implementation of the decision of the Crisis Management Committee of the Council of Ministers, provided that the studies are resumed, and the exams work will be completed in accordance with the regulations, bylaws and schedules announced by the institutes and colleges in the universities.

The Council stressed the regularity of faculty members, the assisting body, and workers according to the announced schedules of colleges and institutes to ensure the proper conduct of examinations and the educational process.

The Council also stressed the commitment to all precautionary measures and activating the role of crisis committees in universities and institutes to follow up on all procedures and ensure the safety of students, faculty, and staff.

The council emphasized the implementation of the hybrid education system announced since the beginning of the current academic year (combining education between students' attendance on campus and online education), with a commitment to reduce the number of students in grades, classrooms and practical training laboratories to achieve social distancing according to the established numbers, and that student attendance The universities and institutes are in conformity with the previous decisions of the Supreme Council of Universities, which confirm that students of theoretical colleges on campus do not exist for more than two days per week, and students of practical colleges between 3-4 days per week, depending on the nature of study in different colleges and institutes, with an emphasis on adherence to all necessary controls for prevention inside teaching and training halls.

The Council approved that universities and institutes extend the current academic year for a period of three weeks in principle, in order to achieve the completion of the study plan for the various scientific specializations.

The council also agreed that students who are afraid of taking the exams due to the current circumstances of the Corona pandemic may submit a request to apologize for performing all the exams scheduled for the first semester before the start of the exams, and in this case the student is treated as students applying with acceptable excuses in accordance with Article 80 of the Executive Regulations of the Universities Organization Law.

As for students who are confirmed to be infected with the new Corona virus, they must submit a medical report approved by the competent medical authority at the university, and in this case it is permissible to apologize for the examinations that coincide only with the period of infection of the student according to what is determined by the medical report, and he is allowed to enter all other examinations.

Major General Muhammad Salman Al-Zomlout, Governor of the New Valley, gave a presentation at the council meeting in which he offered to allocate an area of ​​200 acres for each university to maximize the yield of fedan production through scientific research, so as to increase the feddan production of strategic crops.

The Council listened to a presentation by Dr. Iman Al-Nashar, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Intermediate Studies, Helwan University, on developing inter-programs between different scientific disciplines, in line with contemporary trends in international universities, and in response to the needs of the local, regional and international labor market, and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research directed To form a scientific committee to provide a comprehensive study on mechanisms for developing inter-education programs in Egyptian universities.

The Council witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Supreme Council of Universities and the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, and the memorandum of understanding was signed by Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, a representative of the Supreme Council of Universities, and Dr. Tarek Shawky, representing the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, and the memorandum provides for the operation of the (e-learning) platform, and the platform provides many distinctive services Among them are specialized educational programs services, as well as a unified system for scientific publishing of Egyptian scientific periodicals according to scientific standards, and the platform also contains examination systems and a question bank, which allows improving the performance of online tests, using the super control unit to monitor exams and students' performance.

The Council also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Electronic and Knowledge Services Center at the Supreme Council of Universities and the Al-Alfi Foundation for Human and Social Development regarding the operation of the (Ejada) platform, in implementation of the President's initiative entitled "Industrialism in Egypt", which aims to train and qualify owners of handicrafts, crafts and professions such as carpentry. Plumbing, electrical and other trades. The memorandum provides for the cooperation of the two parties in operating the electronic platform and providing the necessary training programs for the digital transformation of the Egyptian society and industry, in addition to providing and developing training content.

The Board agreed during its meeting on:

Establishing a branch of Suez University in Abordis City, South Sinai Governorate, and establishing faculties of (Education - Arts - Science - Commerce) in the branch.

- The Council approved the launch of the competition for the best university in the academic year 2020/2021, which will include the competition for the best environmentally friendly university, the competition for the best university in the field of applied projects related to society, and the competition for the best university in published applied research in terms of creativity and its connection to industry.

- The council agreed to perform aptitude tests for students who obtained equivalent certificates (Arab and foreign) and who applied to join the second semester of colleges of Egyptian public universities, whose enrollment requires passing aptitude tests.

- The Council agreed to exempt graduate students in colleges of nursing and dentistry from the Ministry of Health from the requirement for a sabbatical period of 3 months, in order to contribute to their full-time work in the fight against Corona virus.