National Dialogue discusses guardianship over minors' money, national identity

CAIRO – 18 May 2023: The sessions of the National Dialogue discussed Thursday national identity, and issues pertaining to guardianship over minors' money and property.

Representative of Political Parties Tarek Darwish demanded at the National Dialogue to make the mother the custodian of minors, in case of the passing of the father, instead of the grandfather, which would allow her access to their finances and make her the decision maker with regard to their education.

Islamic Scholar Saad El Din El Helaly noted at the National Dialogue that the mother has the right to be the custodian of minors, if the father dies.

Member of the Coordination Committee of Parties Youth Leaders and Politicians Iman Talaat urged increasing the number of Family Prosecutions nationwide as well as accelerating the procedures of processing requests to permit the use of minors' money to pay for needs.

On another level, Representative of the Dostor Party Walid al-Amary demanded a national strategy for raising awareness on the Ancient Egyptian history, and combating attempts targeted at manipulating history. He also urged preserving the Nubian and Bedouin heritage, and reviving Egyptian folklore, which would contribute to boosting tourism.

There are six areas discussed on Thursday. Those are education and scientific research; health; overpopulation; family and social unity; culture and national identity; and, youth. The first consists of three sub-areas that are pre-university education, tertiary education, and scientific research and innovation.

The major topics under pre-university education are enhancing curricula, qualifications and status of teachers, extra-curricular activities, exams and assessment, school management, and technical education. That is in addition to eliminating the phenomena of private tutoring.

With regard to tertiary education, the topics included restructuring with the aim of better qualifying graduates in the fields of medicine, engineering, humanities, and sciences of the future. Discussions covered incentives for innovation, status of private university education, independence of universities, and establishing a syndicate for faculty members.

Regarding scientific research, talks covered restructuring of relevant institutions, 2030 priorities and obstacles, national strategy, incentives, and intellectual property rights. A fourth sub-area is the elimination of illiteracy.

Concerning healthcare, discussions covered universal health insurance system, healthcare services at public and private facilities, status and qualification of medics, medical education, and localization of pharmaceutical industries.  

As for overpopulation and family, the dialogue covered enhancing the characteristics of Egyptians, urban expansion, domestic abuse, curbing divorce rates, and threats to social unity. Speaking of youth, in particular, participants discussed support to student unions, activities, and youth centers, political empowerment of youth, support to young entrepreneurs and disabled youth, as well as sports.