Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

DELEGATES from 11 Asian and African universities attended a forum at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) yesterday afternoon, and shared their experiences in university cooperation and innovation.

The forum was organized by the Center for Higher Education Research at SUSTech and the International Center for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO.

Lakshman Dissanayake, vice chancellor of the University of Colombo from Sri Lanka, Abdel Nasser Singab, vice president of Ain Shams University from Egypt, and Som Ratana, vice rector of the Royal University of Phnom Penh from Cambodia were invited to give speeches on the subject. Other attendees included guests from Pakistan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Ghana, Malawi, Oman, Cameroon and Botswana.

A strategic partnership agreement was signed between SUSTech and six other partner universities, three from African countries and three from Asian countries. They have agreed to launch multi-level and multi-dimensional cooperation in the fields of information and communication in higher education. The agreement also mentioned that SUSTech would hold training seminars for education experts from these countries in the fields of e-learning and higher education.

Additionally, the opening ceremony for seminars on ITC in higher education innovation for Asian and African countries were held at SUSTech yesterday morning.

In light of China’s experience in mass higher education, the seminars aim to make full use of Shenzhen’s advantages in the information and communication industries, to create an environment for life-long learners and to make efforts toward fulfilling the local people’s need for top-notch higher education resources.