AFTE strongly condemns the ministerial decree issued by the ministry of higher education yesterday endorsing new students bylaws, regulating students’ movements and activities inside Egyptian universities.
News leaking over the past few days that the minister of higher education was preparing the bylaws without the knowledge or consultation of students had stirred protest actions in several universities, example of which is the collective resignation of the student’s union of the faculty of medicine, Alexandria university protesting the minister’s intention to endorse the bylaws through a ministerial decree without a nationwide referendum among students.
Yesterday it was announced that the bylaws were actually endorsed in stark violation of all laws and the student’s right to self determination and participation in decision making concerning campus affairs.
AFTE confirms that the endorsed bylaws are illegal, since they were issued by a ministerial decree, while the ministry is not the relevant official body. The body concerned with the endorsement or amendment of the bylaws is either parliament or the president of the republic in specific exceptional cases. Amendment of the bylaws should basically take place in parliament.
Furthermore the executive regulations is a matter that concerns students mainly, who should therefore be consulted and their comments and suggestions taken into account. The ministry ignored this right and so did the responsible university authorities, who met with a few union students, excluding students of different political orientations as well as students of private universities and then later announced the endorsement of the regulations, claiming it received student consensus.
AFTE strongly condemns the process of drafting and endorsing the students’ bylaws, which lacks legal legitimacy. AFTE demands that the ministry of higher education act in transparency and give access of information to students, since this is a fundamental human rights. Such transparency and access to information is essential for creating an atmosphere of democracy on campus.
AFTE also managed to access a copy of the new bylaws endorsed by the ministry and will issue a report in that regard shortly.