The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has extended the deadline for accepting transfer requests from Egyptian students who were enrolledin Sudanese, Russian, and Ukrainian universities until August.

The decision allows Egyptian students affected by conflicts in these countries to transfer to a national or private university in Egypt in their corresponding specialty, provided they meet a set of conditions.

The students must have obtained aThanawiyaAmma (12th grade high school) certificate or its equivalent, were enrolled in their faculty abroad until at least 8 May 2023, and need to spend at least a full academic year in the Egyptian faculty they will transfer to, ministry spokesman Adel Abdel-Ghaffar said.

The ministry’s decision to accept transfer credits of expat students is based on Decree 30/2011 issued by the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, stipulating that the minister of higher education may, if needed,allow Egyptian students affected by wars and conflicts to move from foreign universities to corresponding faculties in Egyptian universities.

The decision was issued by the Private Universities Council, headed by Minister of Higher Education AymanAshour.

According to the decision, students must present documents proving they were enrolled in a university recognised by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities (SCU) in Sudan, Russia, or Ukraine, and the programmes they studied in order to determine their academic level.

If a studentcompletes at least one semester abroad according to the credit hour system, the Egyptian faculty to which the student transfers will evaluate the subjects taken to determine equivalence.

Students who did not spend at least one semester in a university abroad,recognised by the SCU, according to the credit hour system, can apply to enrol as freshmen in a faculty in Egypt with the same specialty. If their faculty abroad did not receive SCU recognition, the student will join a faculty based on their score in ThanawiyaAmma or its equivalent.

Students in faculties abroad whose ThanawiyaAmmaspecialisation does not match their study abroad are excluded from the ministry’s decision. For example, if a student earned a degree in the literary division of Thanawiya Amma and joined a medical faculty abroad, he or she cannot enrol in any of Egypt’s medical schools.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 July, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly