((Quoting the official page of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research))

Minister of Higher Education chairs the meeting of the Supreme Council of Universities at Kafr El Sheikh University

The Minister of Higher Education confirms:

- Readiness of the main coordination office in Cairo to start its work

- Readiness of Computer labs at public universities to support students during the coordination period

- Media campaign continues to raise students' awareness of how to complete all stages of the e-coordination process

- The Minister of Higher Education praises university students for participating in the "Be Ready" initiative

- Council approves the establishment of 5 new technological universities affiliated with public universities

- Council thanks outgoing university presidents for their outstanding efforts in all areas of university work

- The Council congratulates the scientists who won the 2024 State Awards

The Supreme Council of Universities held its regular meeting today, Saturday, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ayman Ashour, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in the presence of Dr Mostafa Refaat, the Secretary of the Council, and members of the Council, at the headquarters of Kafr El Sheikh University.

Therefore, the Council thanked Kafr El-Sheikh University, headed by Dr Abdel Razek Desouki, the President of the University, for hosting the meeting of the Supreme Council of Universities.

Moreover, the council thanked the outgoing university presidents for their fruitful efforts in developing the higher education system at their universities, namely: Dr Mansour Hassan, the President of Beni Suef University, Dr Abdel Razek Desouki, the President of Kafr El-Sheikh University, and Dr Mustafa El-Naggar, the President of Matrouh University. The Council also appreciated the development achieved by the outgoing university presidents in all tracks of university work, which had the best impact in improving the education system, the international ranking of their universities, and serving the local community.

The Minister of Higher Education confirmed the readiness of the main coordination office at Cairo University to start its work, as well as the readiness of computer labs at public universities to assist students during the electronic coordination period to enroll in public universities and institutes, with qualified counsellors available to assist students throughout the coordination period.

The minister also directed the need to complete the maintenance work required by laboratories and university facilities, and ensure the readiness of occupational health and safety tools, before the start of the new academic year 2025/2026 to ensure the quality of the educational process.

Hence, the Minister emphasized that the media campaign provided by the General Directorate of the Media Office and the Ministry's official spokesperson will continue throughout the coordination period to raise students' awareness of how to complete the e-coordination process and provide all the information that students need through the Ministry's official website and the Ministry’s official pages on social media.

The Council listened to a report on the main activities of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research during the month of July, including the meeting of Dr Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister, with Dr Ayman Ashour and several ministers and university presidents, to follow up on the national universities system. The minister presented an integrated proposal for the private education system in Egypt, as well as activating the role of private universities in supporting and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, and improving the quality of education in many fields and sectors of priority for the state.

In addition, General Staff of War Kamel El Wazir, the Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, and the Ministers of Higher Education and Education witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Productive Sufficiency and Vocational Training Authority and the Education Development Fund of the Council of Ministers with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to support the development of engineering and technological education in Egypt and provide trained and qualified technical cadres capable of meeting the needs of the local and international labor market in electronics technology and green energy technology.

Under the patronage of Prime Minister/ Dr Moustafa Madbouly, Dr Ayman Ashour attended the fourth session titled: "Human Capital in the Era of the Knowledge Economy," as part of the fourth edition of the Knowledge Youth Forum, which was held at Cairo University.

Dr Ayman Ashour also witnessed the award ceremony for the 20 universities included in the QS 2025 ranking, as well as the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Egyptian Knowledge Bank and the QS Foundation.

Then, the Minister chaired several important meetings, most notably the meeting of the Council of National Universities, the meeting of the Supreme Council for Technological Education, the meeting of the Council of Research Centers, Institutes and Bodies, as well as the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fund for Innovators and Brilliant People, and the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank.

Dr Ayman Ashour witnessed the launch of the training camp for the cadres of career centers at Egyptian universities, representing the second phase of the implementation plan for the second edition of the "Be Ready: One Million Innovative Qualifications" initiative. Dr Ayman Farid, the Assistant Minister for Strategic Planning, Training, and Labor Market Qualification and Acting Head of the Cultural Affairs and Missions Sector, presented a report on the executive procedures of the Be Ready initiative, the universities' response to the initiative, and the executive action plan for the initiative in the coming period.

The Minister also witnessed the press conference held to announce the results of the first phase of the competitive call for proposals of the presidential initiative "Alliance and Development," which the Ministry launched in February 2025 as the first competitive national initiative aimed at stimulating innovation and implementing comprehensive development projects across Egypt's seven economic regions.

Dr Ayman Ashour witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between 12 Egyptian universities and the University of Louisville to establish a joint track to obtain a master's degree in engineering sciences in all engineering disciplines at the University of Louisville.

As well, the Council of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, chaired by Dr Ayman Ashour, announced the names of a group of distinguished Egyptian scientists who won the state awards for 2024, which include the Nile, Esteem, Discretion, and Incentives Awards in the fields of science and advanced technological sciences, as well as the Pioneer Awards and the Women's Awards (Discretion and Incentives). In this context, the Council congratulated the scientists who won the state awards for their outstanding research contributions.

The minister also honored the winners of the "Together" short film competition to counter rumors and misconceptions, with 211 student works from different Egyptian universities.

The council witnessed the signing of a cooperation protocol between the New Valley National University and Bedaya  Company to design and develop the university's website in Arabic and English, with full control of the internal pages, providing a control panel that allows managing the internal pages and linking them to the main menus, publishing news and multimedia, and linking the website to all university accounts and e-learning platforms.

The Council listened to a presentation by Dr Haitham Ismail, the Director of the Information Systems Unit at the Supreme Council of Universities (SCU) Secretariat, on the SCU's geographic information portal, which displays the location of higher education institutions in Egypt, the activities of universities to serve students and scientific research, as well as the most important presidential initiatives.

Dr Adel Abdel Ghaffar, the media advisor and spokesperson for the ministry, said that the council approved in principle the establishment of five new technological universities affiliated with national universities (Benha Technological University, Menoufia Technological University, Sohag Technological University, Suez Technological University, and Al-Arish Technological University), with the completion of the necessary legal procedures in this regard.

The official spokesperson added that the council approved the start of studies at the Faculty of Nursing at New Valley University in the new academic year 2025/2026.

Dr Ragab Mahmoud, professor of public law at the Faculty of Law, Cairo University, was appointed as a legal advisor to the Supreme Council of Universities.

The council also approved the visual identity guide for the Supreme Council of Universities, which will be adhered to in all meetings where the council is present or its sub-meetings, as well as events and receptions for the sector committees within the universities, and all promotional activities of the council.

The council reviewed a report on the Egyptian Student Participation Survey until July 2025 and presented data on the participation rate of universities.