Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of higher education and scientific research, witnessed a workshop on the QS World classification, attended by Dr. Ashwin Fernandez, CEO of the QS classification for Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, and Dr. Ramy Awad, regional director of the classification, in cooperation with the Egyptian Knowledge Bank, and in the presence of a number of university presidents and leaders, and heads of international classification committees at Egyptian public, private and private universities, at the headquarters of the future University.
Dr. Ayman Ashour stressed the importance of paying attention to supporting Egyptian universities to improve their positions within the international classifications, pointing out that the international classifications file is part of the application of the national strategy for higher education and scientific research, and the principle of international reference as one of its most prominent principles, which means enhancing the international competitiveness of Egyptian educational institutions, calling on universities to allocate a unit to support the “international reference” within each university, adding that Egyptian universities deserve access to further improvement of their positions within various classifications befitting its history and Egypt’s heritage in the field of Higher Education.
The minister pointed out that all tributaries of the Egyptian higher education system from public, private and private universities achieve outstanding results in the rankings, reflecting the development witnessed by the entire higher education system, thanking Dr. Obada Sarhan, president of the future university for hosting this workshop.
Dr. Ayman Ashour also pointed out the importance of global classifications as a guiding tool that contributes to improving the performance of academic and research institutions, developing their programs and plans, and updating academic, research and administrative practices through clear and systematic standards of measurement, in line with these standards; to ensure the provision of high quality education reflected at the level of graduates and meet the requirements of the labor market, as well as upgrading research work, and developing research plans to suit the requirements of international publication and meet the indicators of Sustainable Development Goals at the local, regional and international levels.
The minister thanked the Egyptian Knowledge Bank team for its great efforts in supporting Egyptian universities in the international rankings file, reviewing the measures taken by the ministry in cooperation with the knowledge bank during the past period, pointing to the success achieved by the Egyptian Knowledge Bank experience, and expanding the transfer of this experience at the regional level, highlighting UNESCO’s praise of the bank as a leading digital educational platform.
Dr. Ayman Ashour also noted the efforts to increase the international publication of Egyptian scientific journals and increase citations of local scientific research, as Egypt is now producing and exporting knowledge.
For his part, Dr. Fernandez pointed to the importance of international rankings of universities in enhancing academic competitiveness among educational institutions, supporting innovation and the quality of education, as well as enhancing cooperation between universities and leading international institutions in the field of academic classification, praising the fruitful efforts carried out by the Ministry of higher education and scientific research and the great importance attached by Dr. Ayman Ashour to this file, and the Egyptian Knowledge Bank team for this file, advising universities to make success their first goal and not just progress in the classification.
During the workshop, the QS classification team presented the efforts that universities can make to obtain advanced positions within the classification, the most prominent indicators that help to progress in the classifications, identify the criteria for evaluating universities, and the best practices for QS classification in the world and the Arab region.
The minister listened to the discussions of the attendees and responded to their inquiries about applying for the classification, solving the difficulties encountered by them.
The workshop also witnessed an exchange of ideas between the attendees and the QS classification team on the criteria for applying for the classification and ways to improve the ranking of universities within it, presenting the ranking of Egyptian universities compared to their international counterparts, highlighting the strengths of the leading universities at the top of the classification, emphasizing the importance of the quality of research provided and providing advanced training programs for those responsible for the files of University Rankings.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of higher education and scientific research has developed an action plan to increase the representation of Egyptian universities in prestigious international rankings based on supporting the main factors of University Rankings, namely: (scientific research, Increasing international dissemination, developing teaching strategies, employability, and the international reputation of the University). the Egyptian Knowledge Bank has contributed by providing a huge amount of scientific resources necessary for Egyptian researchers and scientists to enable Egyptian educational and research institutions to become known globally, and support efforts to upgrade their ranking within international rankings.
