The Supreme Council of Universities held its regular meeting, headed by Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, today, Monday, in the presence of Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education, Dr. Mustafa Refaat, Secretary of the Council, and members of the Council, at the Ministry's headquarters in the New Administrative Capital.

The Council congratulated Dr. Sherif Saleh on his appointment as President of Port Said University, wishing him continued success. The Council also thanked Dr. Rawya Rizk, the former Acting President of the University, for her distinguished efforts during the past period, wishing her continued success. The Council congratulated Dr. Mahfouz Abdel Sattar, Acting President of Hurghada University, wishing him continued success. The Council also congratulated Dr. Ayman Farid on his assignment to carry out the duties of the Head of the Cultural Affairs and Missions Sector, wishing him continued success. The Council also congratulated Dr. Ragab Mahmoud Ahmed on his appointment as Legal Advisor to the Supreme Council of Universities, wishing him continued success.

Dr. Ayman Ashour stressed the need for universities to implement various student activity plans (sports, arts, culture, and social) and support talented students, noting that student activities are one of the most important foundations of the educational system, which aims to strengthen and support team spirit, consolidate human ties, and document them among students, and are one of the most important ways for students to integrate into society.

The Minister directed the continued active role of universities in implementing the presidential initiative for human development (a new beginning for building the human being) through executive plans, timetables, and performance indicators.

The Minister stressed the importance of universities continuing to support and discover talented, brilliant, and innovative students, and providing all necessary support to them, receiving their research and innovative ideas, and working on developing them, in a way that contributes to transforming their innovative ideas into competitively marketable products, and helping to create marketing opportunities for them.

The Minister directed to intensify the implementation of awareness and educational seminars for students on various challenges, enhance their sense of belonging, and intensify awareness campaigns for students; to confront concepts and ideas that conflict with the tolerant religious beliefs and authentic cultural and societal heritage of the Egyptian people.

The Minister also directed to intensify the organization of field visits to the national projects being implemented; so that students can learn about the size of the projects being implemented in various sectors throughout the Republic.

The Minister also directed the importance of activating the role of regional alliances that were signed between universities and production and industrial institutions, and implementing the regional alliances plan to support scientific research for industry and the national economy, and confronting the challenges facing the various geographical regions at the level of the Republic, and supporting the transformation of educational institutions into innovative institutions that contribute to attracting distinguished scientific cadres, in implementation of the presidential initiative "Alliance and Development", which enjoys the support and patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, and in line with achieving the goals of the National Strategy for Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The Minister also directed the universities to continue their interest in community participation in cooperation with the "Hayah Karima" initiative by launching medical, veterinary, and agricultural convoys, organizing educational seminars, events, and various activities, working on capacity building, and making more efforts in all health, environmental, veterinary, and social fields.

The Minister stressed the importance of increasing the efforts of universities in the literacy file in cooperation with the General Authority for Adult Education; activating the role of universities in serving society and developing the environment.

The Minister thanked the university presidents and their deputies; for their active role in facilitating the electronic coordination procedures for government universities at various stages, by opening computer labs to students, and providing them with the necessary technical support while choosing their desires, in addition to the periodic follow-up of students' performance of aptitude tests in various faculties.

The Minister praised the appearance of a large number of Egyptian scientists in Stanford University's list of the top 2% of the most cited scientists worldwide, in various disciplines, congratulating them for their excellence and scientific brilliance. The Minister directed that universities should continue to provide support to researchers to increase scientific publication in prestigious scientific journals; to raise the ranking of Egyptian universities in major international rankings.

Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Education in confronting the density of classrooms and overcoming the problem of teacher shortages in schools. The Minister pointed to the increase in student attendance rates in various schools across the country, stressing the achievement of discipline in all schools across the country.

The Council listened to a report on the most prominent activities of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research during the month of September, most notably Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, honoring the graduation ceremony of the first batch of students from private universities 2024 (King Salman International, El Alamein International, and Al Galala), in the presence of a group of ministers, university presidents, and public figures, at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The report referred to Dr. Mostafa Madbouly's inauguration of Badia University's headquarters in 6th of October City, to review the development plan for Cairo University Hospitals "Kasr El Aini", and the project includes increasing the actual area after development to about 280 thousand square meters, with the aim of increasing the number of patients treated annually, which currently amounts to more than 2 million patients. It was also noted that there is an ambitious project to develop Ain Shams University Hospitals.

Dr. Ayman Ashour participated in the "Digital Learning Week 2024" conference in Paris, to review the pioneering experience of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, which contributed to providing free access to educational services for students, teachers and researchers, in addition to visiting the largest global center for startups in France (Station F); to enhance the innovation system and facilitate the growth of startups in Egypt, as well as holding a meeting with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Open Classrooms Foundation for e-learning; to discuss ways to benefit from the Foundation's expertise in the field of information technology, marketing and electronic courses.

The President of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research witnessed the official opening ceremony of the headquarters of the German International University "GIU" in the New Administrative Capital, and a protocol was signed for joint cooperation between the two countries in the fields of higher education, scientific research and technological development.

Dr. Ayman Ashour also witnessed the signing of contracts with a number of British qualification and classification bodies, including the Royal College of Surgeons, the Association of Chartered Accountants, and the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technology, to open their headquarters in Egypt; with the aim of providing accredited training programs to provide the necessary skills for graduates of Egyptian universities, and developing curricula of Egyptian universities, in addition to cooperation in training accredited lecturers, and providing consultations to Egyptian universities in the field of curriculum development and implementing several joint programs in continuing education and postgraduate studies with Egyptian universities.

Dr. Ayman Ashour opened a workshop to launch the second batch of the Egyptian Pioneers and Scientists Program, and the Minister also witnessed a reception ceremony for new batches of a number of scholarship programs provided by the United States of America, where graduates of the "Pioneers and Scientists" program, the Centers of Excellence Program for Agriculture and Water, the scholarship program emanating from the Egypt-USA Initiative, and the University Scholarships Program were celebrated.

The Minister witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Supreme Council of University Hospitals and AstraZeneca Egypt for Pharmaceutical Industries; to support and develop the capabilities of oncology doctors and pharmacists in Egyptian universities, and develop communication and diagnostic methods between them, as well as ensure the implementation of treatment protocols according to international recommendations for treating tumors, and disseminate them among doctors and pharmacists, through cooperation between the two parties to hold the second edition of the competitive scientific program Oncolympics, which is held with the participation of many oncology departments in university hospitals.

The Minister signed a cooperation protocol between the Supreme Council of University Hospitals and the Banque Misr Foundation; with the aim of Banque Misr supporting five university hospitals: (Benha University Hospital, Zagazig University Hospital, and Mansoura, Assiut, and Menoufia University Hospitals); to provide the needs of the five university hospitals for medical devices, which contributes to developing and raising the efficiency of the level of medical and therapeutic services provided to citizens.

Dr. Ayman Ashour witnessed the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Administrative Capital for Urban Development Company; with the aim of providing 100 full scholarships at branches of foreign universities in the Administrative Capital for outstanding high school graduates from Upper Egypt governorates from public schools, in implementation of the directives of the political leadership to complete the initiative "100 Dreams for the Future .. Education in the Administrative Capital".

The Minister also received a delegation from the British Times Foundation to discuss the classifications of Egyptian universities, and the Minister held a meeting with a delegation from the International Labor Organization to discuss ways to enhance joint cooperation.

Within the framework of following up on the universities' preparations for the start of the new academic year (2024/2025), Dr. Ayman Ashour inspected Helwan University and Helwan Private University on the first day of study; to follow up on the regularity of the educational process, and the presence of faculty staff and teaching assistants on campus since the first day of study.

The report indicated that many meetings were held with ambassadors and foreign officials to discuss mechanisms for enhancing joint scientific and research cooperation.

The Council witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between Suez University and Arish University to cooperate in developing curricula and study plans, developing the capabilities of faculty members, evaluating the quality of programs and developing them, encouraging the exchange of experiences between faculty staff at the two universities to conduct teaching and scientific research, and cooperating in organizing conferences and workshops and cooperating in other fields that enhance scientific research and the field of education and training for students in various fields.

Dr. Adel Abdel Ghaffar, the media advisor and official spokesperson for the ministry, stated that the council approved amending some provisions of the executive regulations of the Universities Regulation Law, regarding the conditions for obtaining a master's degree in the faculties of computer and information Sciences at Egyptian universities, provided that the necessary legal procedures are taken in this regard. The official spokesperson added that the council approved the start of studies for the bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Science, Sadat City University, starting from the academic year 2024/2025. The council also approved the start of studies for the bachelor's degree at the Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Sohag University, starting from the academic year 2024/2025.