09:58 PM
Tuesday 07 February 2023
Books – Abdullah Owais:
A few days ago, video clips appeared, in which students at the American University in Cairo protested the prices of their university fees, which amounted to twice what they paid before. The matter was met with ridicule on social media, as it was preceded by videos that some considered “provocative”, in which students from the American University in Cairo talked about their types of cars and their monthly or weekly expenses. The value of some cars reaches millions of pounds, and the expenses of some reach hundreds of dollars.
Between the recent videos and those that preceded them, details are narrated by students at the university. They consider the first to be individual actions that should not be generalized and not applicable to everyone. Mahmoud (a pseudonym for personal desire) was one of them. The young man complains about the increase in the fees per semester, as he and his sister are studying at the university, in different teams and different colleges.
“There are people who are able to pay tuition money without a problem, but there are people who are really suffering in order to be able to continue,” says the university student, whose suffering has been exacerbated by the dollar during the current academic year.
Last March, the price of the dollar was about 16 Egyptian pounds. But now it amounts to twice the amount, at more than 30 pounds. Something that had an effect on increasing the price of university fees, which Egyptian students collect their fees in Egyptian pounds, but at the dollar exchange rate on the day of payment.
The students appeared protesting, chanting to others to join their protest, “Who is silent, is silent, why is your father a thief or what?” While the banners carried phrases about the commodification of education. And other cheers about paying millions of pounds. One of them appears in a video clip talking about those sitting in their air-conditioned offices, without feeling the misfortunes of others.
Mahmoud says that he entered the American University with a scholarship, and in return he pays less than others, and despite that, he complains that the university does not link the price of the dollar to a certain value: “When we started the year, it was 16 pounds, now it is 30. If it was fixed with a specific number, it would be better for us. The university is not supposed to. For-profit, but it is also for-profit.
The young university student says that his family is well-off, and despite the matter, it was forced to sell some of its assets to continue studying Mahmoud and his sister at the American University in Cairo: “This may not be available to all people. I know people who thought and are thinking of transferring to universities with lower prices.”
Just as some dealt with the first videos related to some details of life with great irony, the other videos came with irony as well. The students of the American University in Cairo are seen as children of the middle class and above, or as the users of social networking sites termed “the people of Egypt.” But it is an incorrect view, according to Mahmoud.
The young man believes that a good education is the most important thing his family is looking for. He does not deny that he gets it there, but he is looking for expenses to pay that are more fair: “After I was supposed to pay 350,000 pounds, now I have to pay 700,000, and I have my sister as well.” But if he gets a grant, he pays less than that, about 35%, and requests that there be a link to the dollar price at a specific number.
The scene, according to many, gives other features related to the impact of the dollar on the lives of Egyptians as a whole, the lower and middle classes and above them, and therefore serious voices considered what happened as something beyond irony. While others considered the whole scene, from the videos to the satire, the product of the interaction of different classes on social media.
Students say in their protest that university expenses have increased from 370,000 pounds annually to 700,000. The university’s expenses did not rise directly, but the devaluation of the Egyptian pound against foreign currencies was the reason for the matter, and students were unable to pay the costs of the second semester, so the university decided to reduce its value by 10% for those who pay before the ninth of February, according to Rehab Saad, a spokeswoman for the university.
Rehab says that there are scholarships and aid amounting to $45 million annually, and 3,000 students benefit from them, amounting to 40% of the university’s student numbers. She also offers full scholarships to 850 students. The university has also set up an emergency fund to support students who cannot pay tuition at the new exchange rate. The university’s operating expenses are in dollars, not Egyptian pounds.
The university held a dialogue with the students, as a standard procedure, to clarify some matters, provided that these dialogue sessions are completed, to discuss with the students, find out about their requests, and detail what is happening. The university had pledged that a student would not be forced to drop out of the university because of his inability to pay tuition fees, as it made clear in a statement.
Salma (a pseudonym) was bothered by comments on social media that mocked the students’ protest stand, and comments about university fees: “There are people who can pay 350,000 pounds and 700,000 pounds, and their ability is like that, and there are people who are not, so dealing with this is a superficial first-world problem.”
The university student believes in the necessity and importance of quality education in the current period, and while she sees it as a priority for her, she also believes that it may not be a priority for others: “I have friends at the university whose families borrow money to supplement the university’s money, and their conditions are very difficult.”
The student clashed with comments on social media that mocked their demands, so she clarified and explained, but in her opinion, the effort is wasted with the sarcastic comments, desiring only admiration.
Dr. Abla Al-Badri, a professor of sociology and a consultant on children and family rights, says that the classes that complain about this increase belong to the middle class, which is the “pomegranate of the balance” of society and to which the stability of any society depends: “They send their children to learn, even in places with a high value.” Considering that education is a priority” and considers that this class and its problems to be very complex and important: “because it is the class that achieves balance in society, unlike the class of the nouveau riche or the very rich.”
Al-Badri differentiated between three classes in Egypt, the middle class lies between them, and bears some of the characteristics of the two classes, and while the poor class considers them rich, they do not reach that rank, and education may be a priority that prompts them to send their children to high-cost universities in return for a good education.
Regarding the overlapping of classes on social networking sites, Al-Badri considers that this is behind a positive case and another negative one. The suffering, who consider such vigils to be related to entertainment, as long as they do not involve food and drink.
Perhaps for this reason, many American University students fled to express their problems on the Twitter and TikTok applications, instead of Facebook, which is the most popular in Egypt, for fear of being subjected to great ridicule.
Dr. Muhammad al-Banna, a professor of public finance, believes that inflation and the devaluation of the national currency have affected society as a whole, not a specific class, and the harmed are those with fixed incomes, not variable ones. The professor of economics considers that paying fees in foreign currencies, in universities or elsewhere, is a problem for many, as the value of the national currency decreases for them. And with the crisis of stagflation, the problem will become even greater.