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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Oct. - 3 Nov. 1999 Issue No. 453 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 28 Oct. - 3 Nov. 1999 Issue No. 453
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Study Special Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Cleaning up on campus
By Awatef Abdel-Rahman *
The uproar about the decline of academic standards and scientific research in Egyptian universities continues. The accusations are numerous and varied: academia has become a profit-making machine; critical thinking is discouraged; books by university professors are the only reference works used. This system can only produce graduates unequipped to address the challenges of our times.
I have been a university professor for almost 30 years, and I know a little about the problems. First is the lack of professional penalties. Legal penalties, for infractions to social stability or national security, seem to be the only ones in force on campus. Second, professors, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, survive solely on their meagre salaries. Faculty members on the tenure committee, for example, are paid LE80 to review six academic papers, an effort that can take over six months of serious work. An examiner at a viva receives LE37; for attending a department meeting, a professor can hope for LE19.
A code of conduct should be elaborated that sets down penalties for professors found guilty of abusing their power, plagiarising (then publishing and selling) research, or commercialising their profession for personal gain (by leaking exam questions, for instance), thus disgracing themselves and their institution. University laws must be enforced rigourously. High-level university posts must be filled through elections, and the powers that pertain to such posts clearly defined. Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research Mufid Shehab is able and determined to carry out these reforms.
*This week's Soapbox speaker is a professor of journalism at Cairo University.
