Egypt Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar inaugurated on Sunday Egyptian-Finnish forum for higher education in the presence of Tarja Halonen, President of Helsinki University and former President of Finland.
The forum aims at discussing ways to boost cooperation between Egypt and Finland in higher education and scientific research fields.
Addressing the forum, Abdel Ghaffar reviewed the developments witnessed by higher education policies in Egypt during the past period. He stressed that Egypt is seeking to affirm its position as a center for providing educational services in the Middle East and Africa.
Moreover, the minister noted that Egypt is ranked among the top 20 countries attracting international students to their universities, according to UNESCO statistics.
“Egypt is currently hosting about 70,000 international students studying in various Egyptian universities,” he added, noting that this number is expected to increase by 2020 in the light of new educational projects set to opened during the upcoming period.
Abdel Ghaffar stressed that the development of higher education and scientific research services comes as a part of Egypt’s sustainable development plan under 2030 vision.
This could be achieved through the development of educational institutions’ infrastructure, modernization of curriculum to meet international standards, and supporting the culture of scientific research among university students, as well as developing the students’ skills in innovation, creativity and technology, expanding the reliance on e-learning, enhancing the quality of technological education, linking educational programs to the labor market needs, and preparing graduates to meet the needs of the job market either in Egypt or abroad, according to the minister.
In addition, he stressed on Egypt's aspiration to cooperate with Finland in providing joint educational and training programs through Finnish universities’ branches in Egypt and to benefit from Finnish experience in developing education systems.
“Egypt is looking forward to support bilateral cooperation through encouraging twinning programs between Egyptian and Finnish universities, especially in promising fields like; information technology (IT), biotechnology, nanotechnology, food, agriculture, health and environment,” the minister noted.
On her part, Halonan praised the distinguished relations between Egypt and Finland.
Moreover, she reviewed the Finnish experience in higher education, which depends on linking education to the labor market.
The university president underlined the importance of investing in higher education and its key role in serving the economy as well as providing job opportunities and achieving sustainable development goals.
The event was attended by Finnish Ambassador to Egypt Laura Kansikas-Debraise and a number of Egyptian and Finland universities’ officials.
Contributed by Nada Mustafa
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