Students are the fuel of any revolution. Ruling regimes are always afraid of students' responses, because they are the ones who mobilize the masses and ignite the public, according to Hesham Ashraf, the head of the Cairo University Student Union, speaking to Al-Monitor.

Mohamed Abdel Salam, a researcher specializing in student freedoms at the Institute for the Freedom of Thought and Expression, told Al-Monitor that the student movement in Egypt emerged in the 1970s during the rule of former President Anwar Sadat. The student movement played a big role in mobilizing the public and pressuring the army to take military action against the Israeli occupation of the Sinai, at a time when the president did not want to take any step against Israel, according to Abdel Salam.

He added that most of the political leaders currently in the Egyptian arena are the product of student movements within universities. These leaders include head of the Strong Egypt Party Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and head of the Al-Karama Party Hamdeen Sabahi. 

But, according to Abdel Salam, the student movement weakened during the 1990s as a result of repression and the clampdown on freedoms that Egypt suffered from during the reign of former President Hosni Mubarak. At the time, students lacked a means of communicating among themselves. This is different from today, where youth can communicate with each other through Facebook and Twitter, away from the government's control and state media. Moreover, they can communicate with their international counterparts, publicizing political activities and exchanging information.