{"id":11755,"date":"2016-02-11T10:59:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T08:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afteegypt.org\/?p=11755&lang=en"},"modified":"2020-12-16T14:51:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T12:51:07","slug":"cairo-universitys-decision-demonstrates-the-erosion-of-university-independence-and-its-reliance-on-dictates-of-ministry-of-higher-education-which-acts-as-a-cover-for-security-intervention-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/en\/advocacy-en\/joint-statements-en\/2016\/02\/11\/11755-afteegypt.html","title":{"rendered":"Cairo University\u2019s termination of academic Kholoud Saber\u2019s scholarship in Belgium and ordering her to return is a flagrant violation of academic freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAIRO UNIVERSITY\u2019S DECISION DEMONSTRATES THE EROSION OF UNIVERSITY INDEPENDENCE AND ITS RELIANCE ON DICTATES OF MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, WHICH ACTS AS A COVER FOR SECURITY INTERVENTION IN UNIVERSITIES<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

The undersigned organizations strongly condemn Cairo University\u2019s decision to terminate Prof. Kholoud Saber\u2019s scholarship abroad and its order for her to return to Egypt. Saber, an assistant lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities, is pursuing a doctorate at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. The decision has serious consequences for academic freedom, in particular freedom of academic research. With this action, Cairo University has violated the principles of university independence in response to the interventions of the Ministry of Higher Education, an executive body, in contravention of the Egyptian constitution and laws and in clear breach of all international conventions and declarations on academic freedom and university independence. The step comes amid recent increasing violations of academic freedom, including the censorship of academic theses and the referral of researchers to questioning, the need for prior security approval for faculty travel abroad, teaching bans, and the termination of scientific agreements for political reasons.<\/p>\n

Saber received an email from the administration of the Humanities Faculty on December 11, 2015 terminating her doctoral research sabbatical, which began on October 1, 2015, in response to a notice from the Department of Inquiry and Information at the Ministry of Higher Education in November 2015 that the department had denied approval for Saber\u2019s doctoral scholarship at the Catholic University of Leuven. On December 6, 2015, the dean of the Humanities Faculty received a letter from the university Cultural Relations Department on the recommendation of the Ministry of Higher Education ordering Saber to return to Egypt and take up a position in the university\u2019s psychology department.<\/p>\n

The termination of Saber\u2019s sabbatical and ordering her to return to Egypt violates academic freedom, defined by international conventions as the freedom to research, teach, and publish in scientific disciplines without interference or restraint. In this case, Cairo University\u2019s decision prevents Saber from continuing to pursue her doctoral research and teach at the Leuven University and disregards her academic preparation for the scholarship, which began in October 2015. The Egyptian constitution contains concrete references to academic freedom. Article 22 states, \u201cTeachers, faculty members, and their aides are the basic pillar of education. The state shall guarantee the development of their scientific capacities and professional skills and protect their material and moral rights\u2026\u201d Article 23 states, \u201cThe state shall guarantee the freedom of scientific research and encourage its institutions\u2026\u201d By denying Saber the opportunity to complete her academic research abroad, Cairo University has thus violated constitutional provisions for the protection of teachers\u2019 rights and their academic and research freedom.<\/p>\n

The undersigned organizations note that Cairo University\u2019s decision also contravenes provisions of Law 49\/1972 on the regulation of universities, which protects the academic freedom of faculty members and teaching aides in connection with research sabbaticals. Article 146 of the law states, \u201cTeaching assistants and assistant lecturers may be sent on missions abroad, receive foreign scholarships, or be allowed sabbaticals, paid or unpaid, pursuant to the decision of the university president, based on the suggestion of the faculty or institute board after soliciting the opinion of the department board, and pursuant to the approval of the university board of graduate studies and research\u2026\u201d Saber fulfilled all procedural requirements in the law prior to leaving for Belgium: the psychology department approved her sabbatical and the university vice-president for graduate studies, acting on behalf of the university president, gave final approval for her travel on August 12, 2015, allowing her to accept the scholarship offered by the Catholic University. Under the terms of the scholarship, which covers the period from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016, the university would pay Saber\u2019s salary and contribute to the plane ticket.<\/p>\n

The decision not only violates academic freedom. It also demonstrates how Cairo University yields to interference from the executive, represented by the Ministry of Higher Education and specifically the Department of Inquiry and Information, which is thought to be linked to security bodies. Forms from faculty wishing to travel abroad on academic missions are sent to the department, which approves or denies travel applications.<\/p>\n

The undersigned organizations reiterate the importance of respecting Article 21 of the Egyptian constitution, which requires the state to uphold the independence of universities. The Ministry of Higher Education and state security agencies may not intervene in the administrative, financial, and scientific affairs of universities. The Egyptian government must comply with the UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel of 1997, which under Paragraph 19 requires UNESCO member states to protect institutions of higher learning from threats to their independence, regardless of the source. Paragraph 13 states, \u201c\u2026higher-education teaching personnel should be enabled throughout their careers to participate in international gatherings on higher education or research, to travel abroad without political restrictions\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Law 49\/1972 on universities contains no provision requiring university faculty and teaching aides to obtain travel approval from the Department of Inquiry and Information, an office of unspecified remit. As no more than an internal department with the Ministry of Higher Education, it has no jurisdiction over faculty members or aides and possesses no decision-making authority on academic scholarships. We refer, however, to a description of the department on the website of Damanhour University. According to the website, one of the responsibilities of the university director of individual security is \u201coffering an opinion on candidates for travel abroad based on relevant directives and rules after soliciting the opinion of security through the Department of Inquiry and Information in the Ministry of Higher Education.\u201d This demonstrates that the security apparatus uses this office in the ministry as cover for its surveillance and monitoring of faculty members and staff and to restrict their right to travel abroad on academic missions. This was confirmed by Cairo University President Gaber Nassar in a phone interview with ONTV\u2019s \u201cHeadline\u201d on February 3, 2016. According to Nassar, \u201cThe university and security exchange information\u201d and \u201cthe travel of assistant lecturers is decided by the Ministry of Higher Education. The acceptance of foreign research scholarships is a matter of state sovereignty and discretion. If there\u2019s a problem related to national security, that\u2019s for the [security] apparatus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof. Saber filed suit before the Administrative Court (no. 3163\/63JY) on February 4, 2016, against the minister of higher education, the president of Cairo University, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities, the director of the Department of Inquiry and Intelligence, and the director of the Department of Cultural Relations at Cairo University. She is contesting the order to revoke the scholarship, seeking a stay of the order and its consequences, which would allow her to complete the sabbatical.<\/p>\n

The undersigned organizations urge Cairo University to immediately revoke the decision to terminate Saber\u2019s scholarship and to end all forms of security interference in faculty and staff affairs. The university must uphold its commitments to the autonomy of the university and academic freedom, as the only means to advance higher education in Egypt.<\/p>\n

Signatory organizations<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
\nAssociation for Freedom of Thought and Expression
\nAndalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies
\nAppropriate Communications Techniques for Development (ACT)
\nArab Network for Human Rights Information
\nBashaier Development Foundation
\nBudgetary and Human Rights observatory
\nCairo Center for Development CCD
\nCenter for Egyptian Women\u2019s Legal Assistance
\nEl-Nadeem Centre for the rehabilitation of victims of violence
\nHabi Center for Environmental Rights
\nMasryoon Against Religious Discrimination
\nMother Association for Rights and Development
\nNational group for human rights and law
\nNazra for Feminist Studies
\nSalma Association for the Development of Women
\nThe Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement
\nThe Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
\nThe Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
\nThe New Woman Foundation
\nWomen and Memory Forum<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAIRO UNIVERSITY\u2019S DECISION DEMONSTRATES THE EROSION OF UNIVERSITY INDEPENDENCE AND ITS RELIANCE ON DICTATES OF MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, WHICH ACTS AS A COVER FOR SECURITY INTERVENTION IN UNIVERSITIES The undersigned organizations strongly condemn Cairo University\u2019s decision to terminate Prof. Kholoud Saber\u2019s scholarship abroad and its order for her to return to Egypt. Saber, an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[988],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-joint-statements-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCairo University\u2019s termination of academic Kholoud Saber\u2019s scholarship in Belgium and ordering her to return is a flagrant violation of academic freedom - Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/en\/advocacy-en\/joint-statements-en\/2016\/02\/11\/11755-afteegypt.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cairo University\u2019s termination of academic Kholoud Saber\u2019s scholarship in Belgium and ordering her to return is a flagrant violation of academic freedom - Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CAIRO UNIVERSITY\u2019S DECISION DEMONSTRATES THE EROSION OF UNIVERSITY INDEPENDENCE AND ITS RELIANCE ON DICTATES OF MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, WHICH ACTS AS A COVER FOR SECURITY INTERVENTION IN UNIVERSITIES The undersigned organizations strongly condemn Cairo University\u2019s decision to terminate Prof. Kholoud Saber\u2019s scholarship abroad and its order for her to return to Egypt. 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