President
Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Saturday unveiled the state's plans to increase the
number of universities to 125 up from 72 by the year 2023, in order to
accommodate the population growth.
The plans aim to dedicate a university for each one million citizens, the
president said, adding that the new universities are being built in line with
international criteria and standards to meet the goal of upgrading the higher
education system.
"Egypt's population has reached 100 million while we only have 72
universities, meaning that we need up to 28 universities in order to bridge the
gap between the population and number of universities," the president said
while commenting on a speech delivered by Higher Education Minister Khaled
Abdel Ghaffar during the inauguration of King Salman University here.
"By the year 2023, the population will hit 125 million, with an increase
of 25 million citizens, which requires a plan to bring the number of
universities up to 125."
The president added: "The cost of establishing a university is estimated at some EGP 8-10 billion, meaning that we need nearly EGP 400 billion while planning for establishing 30-40 universities, in order to fill the gap between the population and number of universities."
Throughout the past seven or six years, the state has exerted considerable
effort to build new universities in line with the highest standards that focus
on modern sciences, with a view to providing high-quality education for
Egyptian students who previously had no option but to travel and study
overseas, president Sisi said.
He pointed out to a plan targeting bringing home some of the 30,000 Egyptian
students who are studying abroad, especially after the outbreak of coronavirus
pandemic.
The state seeks to build universities in line with the international standards
and criteria in order to provide an outstanding education and link it to the
labor market’s needs, with the aim enabling graduates to find good job
opportunities, the president added.
Source: State Information Service
