E/CN.4/1993/62 page 28 and Christian religious leaders, as well as local residents. The meeting emphasized the bonds of national unity, condemned the incidents, established a committee to collect donations to compensate the victims of the incidents and also established a committee to promote social harmony and prevent such incidents in the future. (c) The reference to demands made by members of the Coptic community With a view to facilitating the construction of places of worship, the competent State authorities allocate plots of land in the new towns where mosques and churches are built side by side as a token of the harmonious relations between the members of our united people. In this connection, the following should be noted: The statistics published in 1991 refute the allegations made concerning prevention of the construction, repair and renovation of churches. The time-honoured requirement for permission to construct or repair churches is attributable to the fact that Egyptians firmly believe that churches must be established and built in a befitting manner consistent with their religious status as places of worship. There is no valid justification for the demand that a university should be established on a confessional basis, in the light of the current expansion aimed at establishing numerous regional universities with branches in the new towns with a view to promoting the principles of equality and justice and the freedom that all Egyptian students enjoy to enrol at any college or institute. In this connection, the following should be noted: Student enrolment at institutes and colleges is computerized on the basis of the student’s grades and wishes. Every student is free to enrol at any private primary, preparatory or secondary school and there is no discrimination in regard to the persons responsible for the management or supervision of the school. Religious education (Islamic and Christian) is a basic subject in public educational curricula, without any discrimination between one religion and another. All the various Egyptian information media broadcast or cover the religious celebrations and weekly services of the Christian community in the same way as Islamic religious celebrations and prayers. (d) The security policy in regard to any incident that might give rise to intercommunal tension Any attempt by trouble-makers or law-breakers to exploit minor incidents (quarrels or disputes) between Muslim and Christian citizens of Egypt with a view to endowing them with provocative confessional significance is dealt with