A new university chair in Applied Research in Education has been announced by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology.
The Unesco chair will be hosted by the Women's Higher College of Technology (HCT) of Sharjah. It is the second Unesco chair hosted by the HCT.
Sheikh Nahyan thanked Koichiro Matsuura, director general of Unesco, and Dr Abdallah Bubtana, director of the Unesco regional office, for their keen efforts in providing academic opportunities for UAE students.
Sheikh Nahyan said: "These two chairs will provide our students with the skills needed to enhance their research capabilities in education and media."
He added that HCT's reputation for being student-centered has enabled the institution to gain recognition both nationally and regionally, as a premier institution of higher learning.
The Unesco-backed scheme will be conducted in the College's Centre for Applied Studies in Education and the chairholder will direct the centre's training, research and publication activities.
Dr Bubtana and Dr Farid Ohan, director of the HCT of Sharjah, presented a signed copy of the agreement to Sheikh Nahyan, who said he was delighted to receive such international recognition of HCT's ambitious activities.
Dr Ohan said the Unesco chair is a mark of international distinction for HCT in general and the Sharjah college in particular.
"I hope that through this we can build our efforts to give real support to the initiatives of the Ministry of Education and Youth and the Educational Zones in our area in their attempt to reform school curricula."
A search committee has been formed by Unesco to recruit an internationally recognised scholar in education to fill the position. The succe
ssful candidate will lead and further develop the college's ongoing training programmes.The Unesco chair programme was launched in 1992 as a mechanism for knowledge transfer and capacity building in the spirit of solidarity with and between countries. Its primary mandate is to promote new partnerships across the international academic community, share information and research and create knowledge networks.
Currently there are some 500 Unesco chairs and networks established in 113 countries.
Gulf News
