Egypt’s future depends on democracy, education and research reform: Experts
February 9th, 2011 - 4:52 pm ICT by ANICairo, Feb.9 (ANI): Egyptian researchers and scientists have said that the country’s future depends on democracy, education and research reform, and have added that there is a pool of talent among the youth in Egypt that is unbelievable and that there is a yearning for the freedom to express themselves.
The researchers say that what is most urgent is the need to halt the Mubarak regime’s crackdowns on protesters, and to ensure that the pro-democracy movement prevails.
They have also called for a complete overhaul of Egypt’s education and science systems to help address the root causes of the country’s social and economic woes.”The current outdated government simply lacks the mindset and vision to strategically support scientific research and lead an innovation-based economy that can compete globally,” says Hassan Azzazy, a chemist at the non-profit, private American University in Cairo.
In an editorial in the International Herald Tribune last week, Ahmed Zewail, an Egyptian-born researcher at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, slammed the regime for presiding over a long deterioration in Egypt’s education and research systems.
As is the case in other authoritarian Arab regimes, political patronage and nepotism are rife in senior Egyptian university appointments.
The suppression of human rights, and the poor conditions for science, have also led to a brain drain to the West, and more recently to Gulf states that are investing in research.
According to the Science Citation Index, Egypt produced 5,140 scientific papers in 2010.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, published twice that number alone. (ANI)
- Wary of Egypt crisis repeat, Cuba cracks down on Internet opposition movements - Feb 11, 2011
- Outrage as Mubarak refuses to go, US steps up pressure (Fourth Lead) - Feb 11, 2011
- Protesters swell as Mubarak clings to power, US steps up pressure (Third Lead) - Feb 11, 2011
- Recent uprising in Cairo 'not an Islamic Revolution': Egypt expert - Feb 19, 2011
- Military caught between Mubarak, pro-democracy protesters - Feb 11, 2011
- Labour unions join protesters in Egypt - Feb 09, 2011
- Egypt's uprising redefines what's possible in Arab world - Feb 12, 2011
- US secretly backing Egypt's rebel leaders - Jan 29, 2011
- 65 percent Israelis feel removing Mubarak regime dangerous for Israel - Feb 05, 2011
- Libya bloodshed: Defiant Gaddafi says he is in Tripoli (Lead) - Feb 22, 2011
- Swiss museum to return 4,000-year-old relic to Egypt - May 13, 2011
- Egypt unrest toll put at 384 - Feb 23, 2011
- Egypt's military reshuffles cabinet - Feb 23, 2011
- New al Qaeda online message slams Mubarak regime as 'corrupt, unjust' - Feb 19, 2011
- Arab League chief to run for Egyptian presidency - Feb 28, 2011
Tags: ahmed zewail, american university in cairo, arab regimes, brain drain, california institute of technology, cambridge massachusetts, democracy education, democracy movement, economic woes, egyptian university, gulf states, harvard university, international herald tribune, political patronage, reform experts, s education, science citation index, science systems, university appointments, university in cairo