The minister stressed the importance of exploiting the capabilities of Egyptian universities and benefiting from their capabilities in eradicating illiteracy and adult education, pointing to the need to follow up on the implementation of the state’s plan to declare “Egypt without illiteracy” to achieve the goals of the sustainable development plan (Egypt Vision 2030).

Abdel Ghaffar added that Egyptian universities have great human and material capabilities, which can be utilized in facing this serious problem, appreciating the success of Egyptian universities in eradicating illiteracy (230,103) citizens during the period from October 2019 to July 2021; Especially in light of the challenges posed by the Corona pandemic, noting that the doubling of the number of registered citizens predicts great and successive successes in the next few years.

The Minister stressed that these achievements were achieved thanks to a number of measures, including: the implementation of a cooperation protocol between the Supreme Council of Universities and the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education, the formation of a committee specialized in presenting a comprehensive plan to confront illiteracy, the Ministry’s participation in the implementation of the illiteracy challenge project at the level of the Arab world, and the launch of Several competitions at the level of universities and institutes to compete for the best university award in facing the problem of illiteracy.

Abdul Ghaffar also thanked the Supreme Committee for the follow-up of the implementation of the literacy project in universities at the Supreme Council of Universities, headed by Dr. El-Hilali El-Sherbiny, a professor at Mansoura University and Minister of Education and Technical Education, preceded the committee's distinguished efforts in confronting the illiteracy phenomenon.

The report pointed to the success of Egyptian universities in presenting luminous models and achieving great achievements in facing the problem of illiteracy, including the success of Ain Shams University in eradicating illiteracy (30,568) citizens, followed by Minya University (30484), then Mansoura University (27982) Zagazig (25,248) and Tanta (22663). South Valley (17356) Assiut (14173) Damietta (7474) Kafr El-Sheikh (5773) Damanhour (5021) Beni Suef (4979) Fayoum (4639) Helwan (4554) Aswan (4256) Al-Azhar (4197) Sohag (3365) Alexandria 3191) New Valley (2670) Menoufia (2539).

Some other universities have also achieved distinguished results and very rich experiences, including the universities of (Suez, Sadat City, Suez Canal, Port Said, Arish, Matrouh, Cairo, Benha, Luxor, 6th of October).

It is noteworthy that during the last meeting of the Supreme Council of Universities, the minister directed the necessity of universities to cooperate with the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education within the framework of the presidential initiative “A Dignified Life” to eradicate the illiteracy of citizens in rural Egyptian villages, pointing out that all aspects of support that universities need will be provided; To enable it to play its national role in facing this challenge, stressing that the problem of illiteracy will be of great importance, and will come on top of university work priorities during the coming period, within the framework of the social and national responsibility of universities.