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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 February 1999 Issue No. 417 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 February 1999 Issue No. 417
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Finally, a French university
By Mariz TadrosSince the mid-19th century, there has been talk of setting up a French university in Egypt. Finally, the idea is turning into reality after the founding document was signed last week. The Preparatory Committee for the French University Project, headed by former ambassador to France Samir Safwat, announced that courses will commence next year on temporary locations. The official inauguration of the university, however, will be delayed until the year 2001 pending the choice of a permanent site. The founders have said that the site will not be in Cairo, but is likely to be in one of the satellite cities around it, possibly with a branch in Alexandria.
Rochereau de La Sablière, France's ambassador to Cairo, hailed the project as "a credit to Egypt, if not to the entire region," adding that this was due to the fact that it is an Egyptian initiative.
The French University, he told Al-Ahram Weekly, "will work in partnership with universities and higher institutes in France. The courses will correspond to those taught in France but there will be a linkage to local market demands." He added that the university will receive pedagogic support from France, including teaching staff.
The idea of establishing the university won support from both the Egyptian and French governments during President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Paris last May, the ambassador said. He believes that the university will "further promote the intellectual ties between Egypt and France, which are already very strong, and will develop dialogue between French and Egyptian universities."
Some critics have questioned the need for a French institute of higher learning when Egyptian national universities, such as Cairo and Ain Shams universities, have special courses such as law and mass communication that are taught in French. However, the French envoy argues that the promoters of the French University are convinced that there should be no competition between the two.
In Alexandria, there is also the University of Leopold Senghor, which was established as an institute of undergraduate and post-graduate learning by the Francophone Organisation. But de La Sablière responded that the student body is essentially different. "The University of Senghor caters to African students, whereas this university will be catering to Egyptians," he said.
Safwat, who presently heads the Franco-Egyptian Business Association, asserted that the importance of this project is threefold. He explained that students graduating from French schools -- almost 3,000 annually -- have no way of continuing their education in French at present. Secondly, he said, higher education should be offered in more than one foreign language. Thirdly, he argued that the establishment of this university is likely to attract investments for this country by encouraging students from the region to continue their studies in Egypt, instead of going to France.
Ali Hefnawi, secretary-general of the Franco-Egyptian Business Association, says that the idea of establishing a French institute of higher education goes back to the mid-19th century. In 1870, a project to establish such a university was launched by French schools alumni. A French law school was established in that year, from which a large numbers of lawyers graduated. In 1956, it was closed down as a result of the Anglo-French-Israeli aggression against Egypt.
Hefnawi said that, in addition to the French courses, others will be offered in English and Arabic at the new university. He pointed out that the idea is to "provide an elitist education in terms of quality." Yet, with an annual fee that ranges between LE20,000-25,000, the student population is likely to be "elitist" too -- not unlike that of the American University in Cairo (AUC).
Hefnawi is confident that because the French University will be offering new specialisations not available at existing higher institutes, it has a good chance of being competitive. "In medicine, for example, we will start by offering an MA programme in certain specialisations like biotechnology and genetics and only in the second phase will we offer undergraduate courses," he said.
Some critics, however, are apprehensive the university will only be another private profit-making initiative that offers an alternative education to affluent students who did not get the grades necessary to enrol at one of the national universities. Hamdi El-Sayed, head of the Doctors' Syndicate, objects that opening a new faculty of medicine, "whether it is established in the first, second or third phase of the university," will only exacerbate the unemployment problem faced by doctors. "We totally reject the idea of opening another undergraduate medical school," he said. "The market cannot absorb the surplus of graduating doctors as it is; another faculty will only make the problem worse."
El-Sayed believes that if the French University is really serious about providing an educational service that is actually needed in this country, then it should offer intensive training programmes for graduate doctors.
President Hosni Mubarak has publicly raised the possibility of establishing a German university in Egypt.
