Since I have worked for years in higher education and scientific research at the University of Alexandria, one of the oldest universities in Egypt and the Middle East, I am very proud of the positive steps taken by the political leaders in Egypt to promote university education and scientific research in the past few years.
In a very successful move, Egypt hosted the World Forum on Higher Education last Thursday under the theme The Future Begins From Here . The conference was organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Egypt under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi with the participation of fifty-five different countries of the world. The World Forum on Higher Education comes as part of the Year of Education activities in Egypt is a confirmation that the bright and enlightened future can only be achieved through quality education and modern scientific research.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi opened the forum with a speech in which he stressed the necessity of Egypt s participation in the modern scientific development and that Egypt merge into the huge scientific revolutions all over the world.
It is worth noting that this great forum comes within the framework of the ambitious state plan for the development of university education, which started to take its course either through the development and renewal of teaching methods in existing Egyptian universities or through the establishment of new universities at the highest scientific level.
We can not deny the strong relationship between the quality of education and scientific research and the requirements of the labor market, so it is necessary that the higher institutes and universities and scientific research centers spread throughout the country to bridge the gap between the scientific research output and the needs of the community and the market.
In this context, a comprehensive strategy and general research map should be devised to guide scientific research and exploit it to meet the needs of the state and the community. There is no doubt that the steps taken by Egypt recently to reform education at all levels, confirms that Egypt is on its way to lead scientific research in the Arab region and the East. The government is supporting scientific research and investment in the field of higher education, and works hard to overcome all obstacles in that account.
