Syrian - British capacity building project: vision is made a reality
Syria-UK, Education, 8/26/2003

The British Council in Damascus held recently a reception a reception on the occasion of launching the project of "Building the Syrian Universities capacity project," in cooperation with the Higher Education Ministry.

The project aims at developing the university system in the Syrian universities through delegating association professors to continue their higher studies in the British universities.

The project also aims at advancing the teaching staff performance through embarking on joint scientific research, exchanging scientific visits, and contributing to the advancement of English language of those teachers.

On the occasion, Deputy Minister of Higher Education Najeeb Abdulwahed addressed the attendance by stressing the importance of this project as a step of cooperation between Syria and Britain, citing the latest developments in Syria in the field of higher education.

For his part, Head of the British Council delivered a speech during which he indicated that this project is a remarkable opportunity to boost high education relations of cooperation between the two countries.

Professor Brian G D Smart, head of Institute of Petroleum Engineering said that "It is a great honor to be in Syria, to be welcomed by fellow academics in the four universities. I believe that we are all excited about the possibility of doing something special and different as we respond to the ministers initiatives."

He added "So I am filled with hope for the future that what we will be able to do is to build partnership that benefit all and also achieve the ministers's vision that in working together, academics can assist Syria in building capacity.

Concerning his visit to Syria, professor Smart said "this is my first visit and what I have learnt particularly is to track records and standards -- leads me to believe that our partnership can be made to work and to see my job has been one of the bringing together all the Universities."

On the joint experience of the two countries' academic experience, Professor Smart said "I think that British and Syrian Universities are entirely compatible because you want to do the best for students and staff and we have achieved this by working together on this innovative program of building capacity." About himself, Professor Smart said "I am program leader for engineering and that topic has been given to Heriot Watt University. And this is the first of many to build a partnership and in particular I need to get to know future colleagues and the requirements of the program with regard to specific topics and obviously also begin to develop an appreciation of Syria itself."

In a similar statement to Arabic News ( ArabicNews.com), director of the British council in Damascus Patrick Brazier said that when the British prime Minister Tony Blair was asked what the priorities were for the British government, he said "education.. education.. education. When he visited Syria in October 2001 and met with his excellency President Bashar al-Assad, Dr. Bashar said his priority for Syria is also education and this would be a very good area of cooperation."

Brazier added that Minister of Higher Education in Syria, Hassan Risheh, was able to take this vision forward through his visit to Britain in December 2001 and he was absolutely clear that he wanted to see a strategic plan for developing the capacity in Syria.

Brazier explained that this project of building capacity is a result of many months of hard work between the four universities in Syria and counterparts in Britain to put in practice this strategic vision. He continued that the critical element of this project is partnership and the British University is involved and have been selected because of the wish to enter a real partnership relationship with their counterparts in Syria. And that project will ensure that the vision is made a reality.

However, in his forward in the recent issue of "Enterprise UK/Syria," outgoing British ambassador to Syria Henry Hogger highlighted the historic visit of President Bashar al-Assad, accompanied by Mrs. Al-Assad to London on 15- 18 December, 2002. He said that this first ever visit by a Syrian president to Britain had been a long time in the planning and "I think was by common consent a huge success."

Ambassador Hogger said that "Having had the privilege of taking part in this visit, I can testify that the atmosphere throughout was both warm and relaxed, as one might expect with a President who has lived and worked in London and clearly feels at home there. As the President remarked to the prime minister ( of Britain), follow up will be important, and we in the Embassy are already working hard to ensure that the warmth generated by the visit is translated into real progress on our numerous bilateral cooperation initiatives, to the benefits of both sides."

Previous Stories:
  Syrian - US cooperation in higher education   (8/25/2003)
  London and Damascus Universities Cooperation   (8/21/2003)
  Syria - Britain cooperation on capacity building project Damascus   (8/15/2003)

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