Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, received a report submitted by Dr. Karim Hammam, Director of the Institute for Leadership Development, about the activities of the Folk Crafts Festival in Egyptian universities, which was held under the slogan “My Country’s Goodness” in Aswan, in partnership with Aswan University from 4 to 8 February 2022, with the participation of 20 Egyptian universities.
The report indicated that the "Khair Belady" festival included many events and workshops in the fields of competition, as well as tours to the Island of Plants, West Sohail and Philae Temple, in addition to an exhibition to display the creativity of the students participating in the festival, and the events concluded with an artistic ceremony presented by the choir of the Faculty of Specific Education University Aswan, the results of the competition were announced and certificates of appreciation were distributed to the students.
On his part, Dr. Karim Hammam pointed out that university students are the basis for developing crafts, which can be the beginning of establishing small and micro-projects, explaining that this group comes within the framework of developing some craft fields, training to create job opportunities for young people, and helping to refine and qualify students' skills. To rely on themselves, in addition to working on preparing and qualifying for the labor market, stressing that Egypt was famous throughout its history for its traditional arts, folk crafts and skilled craftsmen, who excelled in various fields and arts.
The Director of the Institute for Leadership Development stressed that the festival is an opportunity to create a positive and competitive spirit among students, and to show their true talents, which helps in forming their personality and developing a spirit of cooperation among them, and increases their affiliation with their university and country, pointing to the institute’s role in rooting the idea of preserving the Egyptian cultural identity, and that By holding training courses and workshops to make art exhibitions for folk crafts that would preserve our folklore from extinction.
The report included the results of the competitions in the festival's activities, where the Universities (Helwan, Assiut and Aswan) won the Creativity and Excellence Award, and the Universities (Minya, Menoufia, and New Valley), and the Universities (Damietta, Sadat City and Damietta) won the second place. On the third place were the universities (Ain Shams, Sohag and Kafr El-Sheikh), and the jury prize was awarded to the universities of (Luxor, Mansoura and Al-Azhar), and the universities (Zagazig, Suez Canal, South Valley, Beni Suef, and Benha) were awarded the Active Participation Award.