Prof. Ahmed El-Minshawy, president of Assiut University, participated in the regular meeting of the Supreme Council of Universities, chaired by Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of higher education and scientific research, and in the presence of Dr. Mustafa Refat, Secretary of the council, and members of the council, at the headquarters of Suez University.

Prof. Ahmed El-Minshawy stated that the meeting discussed several important files related to the educational system, foremost of which is the continuation of universities ' efforts in implementing the Bidaya initiative, and continuing to implement the "Tamkeen" initiative to raise awareness of the rights and duties of students with disabilities, and maximize the benefits of scientific research outputs; to contribute positively to supporting the industrial community and the national economy, maximize the benefits of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, and the success of organizing student union elections at universities and institutes, praising the efforts of the Ministry of higher education; to upgrade the academic and research level of universities in light of the state's interest in human building, skills development and preparing graduates can meet the requirements of the labor market.

  According to a statement issued by the Ministry of higher education and scientific research, Dr. Mohammed Ayman Ashour praised the launch of many development convoys by universities throughout the Republic to serve citizens, directing the need to continue the implementation of the initiative, in order to activate the role of universities in community service and environmental development at the level of all governorates, as well as the implementation of the "Tamkeen" initiative organized by the ministry in cooperation with the "donors of hope" global campaign, to raise awareness of the rights and duties of students with disabilities inside Egyptian universities, and provide equal opportunities for them, pointing to the importance of intensifying work to provide integrated services to these students, organizing various intensifying cooperation with local and international institutions and partners to ensure the provision of support and care for them, pointing to the organization of a major international celebration at the end of the last phase of the initiative in the seventh region in Luxor with a wide international participation in the month of December.

  The minister stressed that the ministry adopts a supportive policy for innovation and scientific research, as it supports the transformation of scientific research into innovations and value-added products that achieve a positive impact at the societal and economic levels, stressing the importance of universities benefiting from the outputs of scientific research to come up with competitive products that achieve tangible material impact, to contribute positively to supporting the industrial community and the national economy.

  Dr. Ayman Ashour directed to maximize the use of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, to make the maximum possible use of what it provides of the unique and enormous possibilities for learning and training, and to make available various types of Science and knowledge, as it provides many sources of Knowledge, Educational and research information documented from the largest publishing houses in the world that suit all age and educational groups in Arabic and English.

  The minister praised the success of organizing student union elections at universities and institutes for the academic year 2024/2025, pointing out that the student elections represent a real experience that contributes to honing students ' leadership skills and encourages them to institutional work.

   The minister praised the inclusion of 27 Egyptian universities in the first edition of the Times international ranking of interdisciplinary disciplines, the presence of 4 universities among the top 100 universities in the world, and 7 Egyptian universities among the top 200 universities globally, and the minister directed the need for universities to continue to provide support to researchers to increase scientific publication in prestigious scientific journals; to upgrade the classification of Egyptian universities in the major international rankings.
 
 Dr. Adel Abdul Ghaffar, media adviser and official spokesman of the ministry, stated that the council reviewed the approval of the Council of Ministers on a draft law amending some provisions of the law of private and private universities issued by Law No. 12 of 2009, and the amendment provided that Article No. 19 BIS should be added to the law in question, stating that private and private universities accept students with a high school diploma or equivalent, starting from the academic year 2024/2025, who have not obtained the minimum qualification for admission to the college they wish to enroll in private and private universities, once they have passed a qualifying stage called the foundation year according to their scientific qualification to study at that college.