Egyptian Higher Education to Eliminate 'Top Faculties'

By: Mai Shaheen and Salma Yassin

CAIRO, March 10 (SEE)- Amid world’s current digital transformation and industrial revolution, education experts in Egypt are expecting the disappearance of what is called “top faculties”.

As other new fields are considerably needed in labor market apart from Medicine and Engineering, universities’ coordination systems worldwide will undergo fundamental changes in the coming years.

End of top faculties’ era

Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, minister of higher education and scientific research, told 'SEE' that educational process in Egypt should keep pace with the current competition in digital age.

He added, “The future is mainly centered around new specializations like internet of things, artificial intelligence and mechatronics.

Abdel Ghaffar said the ministry is taking steady steps towards constructing new faculties like the recent artificial intelligence one in Kafr El-Sheikh.

Future sciences in New Administrative Capital

One of the Egyptian leadership effective decisions was the inclusion of those new specializations in new administrative capital’s universities.

This was through hosting branches of foreign universities in Egypt.

Till this moment, faculties of medicine and engineering, by their traditional concepts, don’t exist in new capital.

Some of specializations at German Applied Science universities in new capital are engineering and architecture, computer science, biotechnology and building design and restoration.

Regarding the branch campus hosted by University of Canada in Egypt, it includes faculties of science, engineering and design, vital resources and sustainable energy.

Moreover, it includes faculties of mechatronics, video games’ design, business and data analysis, financial mathematics, actuarial sciences and others.

In European Universities Campus located in new capital, there are faculties of engineering of polymers and new and renewable energy, Bioinformatics, molecular biosciences, nanoscience and technology.

Governmental universities' future

President of Cairo University Mohamed Othman al-Khasht also told 'SEE' that it’s time to fill the gap between studies and work fields through developing new educational programs.

On his part, President of Ain Shams University Abdel Wahab Ezzat confirmed 30% of current jobs will vanish overtime as there will be no need for them.

He denied cancelling any current faculty but constructing new non-traditional ones.