Egypt's university graduates 'should drive trucks', says Sisi

Addressing Egyptian youths and university graduates in a speech on Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that even if they were educated and had a university degree, they should take up work as truck or loader drivers "to help build the country".

"Let us train you to drive a truck, let us train you for a month or two to work as a loader driver", Sisi said in his speech.

"You wouldn't be making money from this, it would be to help build our country."

Sisi justified his controversial suggestions by saying that Egypt needed a young workforce, whether educated or not.

Earlier this month, Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab made similar statements in an interview with a private satellite channel, where he said young Egyptians should forget about opening up cafes and focus on driving tuktuks.

Mahlab explained that there were no vacant positions in the public sector and that young Egyptians would be better off driving tuktuks [rickshaws] which are commonly used as cheap form of public transport in densely populated districts.

Ironically, Mahlab's statement came only a few days after the Egyptian government banned the use of tuktuks in central Cairo, with violators facing hefty fines and their vehicles confiscated.

Social media users shared Sisi's controversial statement and compared it with that of Mahlab.

Translation: Sisi told university graduates to work as drivers of trucks and loaders, and Mahlab told them to drive tuktuks. If this happened during Morsi's time, he would have been slammed for it.

Translation: Sisi told university graduates to work as drivers of trucks and loaders. Of course this would be better for them than being in prison or dying of medical neglect!