Sisi to open Global Forum for Higher Education on Thursday

CAIRO - 4 April 2019: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi will open on Thursday the Global Forum for Higher Education and Scientific Research, in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, in the presence of about 2,000 figures, including high-level officials and prominent persons.

Under the title "Between the Present and the Future," the forum will take place over three days, under the patronage of President Sisi, during which a number of scientists, experts, and some of those who are concerned with the university education, scientific research, and innovation will exist, presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said.

Also, more than 300 foreign figures will attend including prominent scientists, heads of international universities, deputies education ministers and education experts from 55 countries, and representatives of regional and international organizations concerned with higher education and scientific research, according to local media.

The attendees will include, according to earlier reports, universities and educational establishments' representatives of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt (BFCE), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Union (EU), the British Council, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Foundation, African Development Bank, UNESCO, Quacquarelli Symonds that publishes QS World University Rankings annually, the Association of Arab Universities, and the Association of African Universities.

The forum aims to create an international platform to address the present and future of higher education, scientific research and innovation through dialogue and discussions on a number of global issues, in a way that allows the exchange of international experiences in this regard.

The topics to be discussed include the return on investment (ROI) of high education, scientific research and innovation, the challenges facing the sector on the global scale in light of the accelerating development of IT and digital transformation, AI, job opportunities and qualifying students for labor market, ensuring quality in educational and scientific establishments, expanding in modern research fields, importance of international rankings, the different criteria used in rankings, modernization of curricula to meet development requirements, and capacity-building of students and faculty members in the realm of scientific research and education.

The announcement of the forum came during Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghafar’s speech at the opening ceremony of the regional headquarters of the Union of African Universities at Al-Azhar University.

Abdel Ghaffar announced in March that the participating countries include France, Greece, Finland, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, Switzerland, Montenegro, United States, Canada, China, India, Kazakhstan, Australia, Nigeria, Chad, Somalia, Zambia, Mauritania, Togo, Tanzania, Morocco, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Sudan, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

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Additional reporting by Walaa Ali