Thursday, September 15, 2011

Egyptian student protests hit elite Cairo university

American University in Cairo accused of excessive fee hikes, mismanagement, staff exploitation and pro-Mubarak regime bias

Jack Shenker in Cairo
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 September 2011

"It started with a refusal to pay the car parking fee. But within a few hours thousands of students and staff at the American University in Cairo had joined the demonstration, bringing Egypt's most elite educational institution to a standstill.

"The revolution has affected all of us," said Sarah Abdel-Rahman, a recent graduate from the $17,000-a-year (£10,800) university. "Now if you have demands, you believe that they should and can be met, and you're not going to give up. It's not like the past anymore, and I think the university administration are yet to realise that."

Egypt's road to reform has hit plenty of obstacles since the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak, but that has not stemmed a tide of grassroots action that continues to wash across the unlikeliest of places....."

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