Kurdistan university presidents make first official visit to

[Aslan]

Madrid, Spain (KRG.org) - A delegation of university presidents from the Kurdistan Region for the first time visited Spain last week to meet Spanish academic institutions.

The Kurdish university presidents had a meeting with some of Spain's leading universities, which was organised by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The Director of Cultural & Scientific Relations at AECID briefed them on the different areas of expertise that Spanish universities can offer to students from Kurdistan.

Mr Daban Shadala, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Representative to Spain, introduced the delegation and explained the purpose of their visit. He said, “Kurdistan suffers from a gap in higher education and Spanish universities are experienced, so I hope that through these meetings we can develop cooperation that benefits both sides.” He added that he would like to see similar meetings take place in Kurdistan in the near future.

Both sides explored ways to cooperate. Dr Salahaalddin Saeed Ali, President of the University of Slemani and the head of the visiting delegation, gave a presentation outlining the current state of the higher education system in Kurdistan along with the plans for its future development. Areas of possible cooperation included lecturers being sent to Spanish universities for training, student exchange programs and Spanish universities being more active in the KRG’s Human Capacity Development Program (HCDP).

The HCDP is an initiative that the KRG launched in 2010. With a budget of 100 million US dollars, the KRG provides scholarships for students from the Kurdistan Region to study masters and doctoral degrees at universities abroad. Applicants are accepted through a transparent process that is based on merit and ability. Hundreds of students have already benefited from the programme and more are applying to universities abroad through the HCDP funding.

The Spanish side briefed the Kurdish delegation about how the higher education system works in Spain particularly in the postgraduate phases. Mr Cesar Espada, the Head of the Department of University and Scientific Cooperation at AECID, discussed the need for potential students to be proficient in Spanish and proposed sending Spanish language teachers to Kurdistan or the possibility of opening a language academy in Kurdistan in the near future.

The delegation also visited University Carlos III, the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. During their discussions with faculty members, ways to enhance cooperation between Kurdish and Spanish universities were discussed and the two polytechnic universities expressed their enthusiasm in opening branches in Kurdistan in the near future.