(Photo by Mohamed Omar\File)
A Saturday report by Democracy Meter said that 511 student protests took place in universities, higher institutes and schools during November, with an average of 17 daily protests. A total of 457 protests were held in universities.
The nationwide branches of Al-Azhar University topped the charts for number of protests, with 101, while Cairo University ranked second with 52 and Alexandria University saw 46.
The report claimed that 296 students and 12 teachers were arrested in November while 423 students were dismissed from their universities.
Students were handed three verdicts in November. Twelve Al-Azhar students received a 17-year verdict for breaking into Al-Azhar on 14 November and burning its library, the first-degree 11-year-verdict, which was later reduced, handed to 14 Alexandria students on 27 November and an 18 month verdict handed to 38 Al-Azhar students for assaulting policemen.
According to the report, the reasons behind the protests varied, with 186 protests demanding the release of detained students, 64 against the trial of former president Mohamed Morsi and 58 held against “the military coup”.
Meanwhile, 35 protests were against police interference in universities, 27 protests were in support of the army while 15 were held against the Protest Law.
The report read that the protests were not always politically-motivated, with 12% of November protests launched against educational circumstances, as joining or switching universities and high dormitory rents.
Different methods of protest were used: including 153 demonstrations, 142 marches and 26 cases of striking were reported, as well as 25 cases of road blocking, five building break-ins, one case of vandalism and one sit-in were also reported.
The report added that November witnessed 70 incidents of violence during student protests, with 35 clashes between Muslim Brotherhood students and independent students, while 21 clashes took place between security forces and Muslim Brotherhood students.
The report claimed that 296 students were arrested in November while 423 students were dismissed from universities.
According to the report, the number of protests increased from October to November by 26% since October. The total number of student protests since the beginning of the school year amounts to 1,122.
Protests and clashes in universities, especially in Al-Azhar and Cairo universities has become a daily scene, especially after the death of one Al-Azhar student on 21 November and an engineering student, Mohamed Reda, in Cairo University on 28 November, both during clashes with police forces.
