PROPHE Summary (by Prachayani
Praphamontripong):
Egypt has increased enrollment rates at all levels, including higher education,
and the government's further reform aimed at producing more skilled labor
includes promotion of the private sector's role in provision. Six private
for-profit universities have been established since the enactment of a
1992 law and a 1996 presidential decree, and by 2000 another 18 privates
were in the process of authorization. Like public universities, private
universities are under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Universities
(SCU). They are criticized for low standards. A statute amendment in 2002
includes more rigid requirements on admission processes and university
administrator appointments and established a new council to supervise
private universities.
For the full story (shown with permission), only partly about private
higher education, see EdInvest News, September 2004. "Facilitating
Investment in Global Education Market," by Suzanne Roddis.
http://www2.ifc.org/edinvest/newsletter.htm
PROPHE Observation (by Daniel
C. Levy):
Explicit and powerful promotion of private higher education options
in a number of Arab states is striking in recent years. Egypt is of
course a case of unusually large higher education enrollments overall.
The common rationale that expansion is feasible only when there is a
major sector that the government does not basically fund is especially
determinative. Also striking, as in Jordan, is permission for for-profit
institutions to operate. As in many other countries in and beyond the
region, how the government role will evolve and what that will mean
for private higher education growth, autonomy, quality, and missions
remains to be seen.
