Prof. Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, inaugurated the activities of the workshop organized by the Ministry of Higher Education in cooperation with the Knowledge Bank, and the QS classification in the Middle East on the classification of Egyptian universities, and the celebration of honoring the universities listed in the QS classification for 2022, in the presence of Dr. Ayman Ashour, Deputy Minister for University Affairs, Dr. Ashun Fernandes, President of the QS Ranking in the Middle East, and the presidents of the universities listed in the rankings and their deputies.

In his speech, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar indicated that the ministry in June 2017 formed a team to undertake the tasks of improving the ranking of Egyptian universities, and to contribute to their obtaining recognition in prestigious classification institutions such as QS World, British Times, Chinese Shanghai, Times News, Leiden Classification, and other international classifications.

The minister added that a road map has been drawn up aimed at raising the rating of many Egyptian universities during the coming period, stressing the importance of Egyptian universities setting a clear map with specific time periods to raise the status of Egyptian universities in international rankings, so that it is not limited to statistics and numbers, but extends to clear and specific future plans.

The Minister stressed the need to benefit from human and social sciences research in raising the international classification of Egyptian universities, directing the importance of setting other criteria for evaluating universities to raise their international image, including: how universities deal with the Corona pandemic, and maintain the safety of faculty members, workers and students while continuing the educational process, and conducting Exams, successfully pass this stage.

As recommended by Dr. Abdul Ghaffar stressed the importance of developing a plan within educational institutions to raise the number of scientific research conducted by universities on the emerging corona virus, as a global requirement in research plans.

Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said that the ministry aims to motivate universities to communicate effectively and positively with the local community with the participation of faculty members, as well as to support universities to establish dual degree programs between Egyptian and foreign universities with outstanding classification, and thanked the presidents of Egyptian universities, members of the classification committee, and employees of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank on the outstanding effort in including many Egyptian universities in international rankings.

On his part, Dr. Ayman Ashour pointed out that the team of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research developed an action plan to increase awareness among all university employees, including faculty and assistant staff, and to include Egyptian universities in international classifications, and in this regard, universities were classified into three groups based on the number of times the university appeared in the classifications He explained that each of the three groups must have a plan of action to raise its classification, provided that the action plan mainly includes four pillars to increase the academic classification, namely: scientific research, teaching strategies, employability, and the international reputation of the university, adding that these factors is considered essential in the ranking of universities in general.

During the workshop, the head of the QS classification in the Middle East gave a lecture to the members of the classification committees in universities about identifying the best practices of the QS classification in the world and the Arab region for universities, as well as the criteria for evaluating universities; With the aim of raising the level of performance of universities in the international classification QS, and improving the reputation of university research for researchers from various disciplines in similar international universities.

At the conclusion of the workshop activities, the Minister and Head of the QS Classification in the Middle East, Dr. Ayman Ashour distributed certificates to the universities listed in the 2022 classification, which are: AUC, Cairo University, Ain Shams, Al-Azhar, Alexandria, Assiut, BUE, Suez Canal University, Helwan, GUC, Mansoura University, Tanta, and Zagazig.

The workshop activities were witnessed by Dr. Hisham Farouk, Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation, Dr. Anwar Ismail, Assistant Minister for National Projects, Dr. Ashraf Al-Azzazi, Head of the Cultural Affairs and Missions Sector, Dr. Adel Abdel Ghaffar, media advisor and official spokesperson for the ministry, advisors to the Deputy Minister of Higher Education for universities, assistant secretaries of the Supreme Council of Universities, representatives of the Knowledge Bank, and members of university classification committees.