Banned from campuses by judicial order since 2010, the question of police presence on university campuses once again emerged during the previous academic year. In October 2013, police presence was approved on Al-Azhar’s campus. In April 2014, Cairo University followed suit.
In October of this year, private security firm, the Falcon Group, was hired to provide on-campus security services at fifteen state universities, as well as at Al-Azhar University. Measures put in place by Falcon included steel gates installed in front of electronic gates at campus entrances, and female security guards stationed at entrances. The firm, however, would not be equipped with live ammunition.
Students have been protesting for awhile now. This will be important to watch.