EGYPT: Corruption thriving in public universities

There is multi-layered corruption in public universities in Egypt, ranging from sexual harassment to nepotism, writes Sarah El Masry for the Daily News. The newspaper investigated the issue following recent corruption allegations against Ain Shams University.

In its 2012 Corruption Perception Index, Transparency International announced that Egypt had slipped to 118th out of 176 countries in levels of corruption.

The index is mainly concerned with perceptions of corruption in the public sector, the realm where public universities belong.

Corruption in public universities is endemic in Egypt. It is not confined to corrupt administrations or misallocated resources, and those who are least complicit in corruption – students – are worst affected by it. A study titled "Transparency and Fighting Corruption in the Egyptian Educational Sector" found that at Alexandria University, 71.2% of students believe that the primary beneficiaries of corruption are professors and teaching assistants.