Association of Arab Universities/ The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State

Association of Arab Universities/ The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State

Zajel / An-Najah National University Speech by Dr. Ibrahim AI-Khawaja, Assistant of Secretary General, Association of Arab Universities. The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State 7-9 Nov.1996 Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to speak, briefly, in Arabic for several considerations: First, I am a representative of the Association of Arab Universities. Second, I am a professor of Arabic. Third, I am a member of Palestinian Arab Language Conclave. On behalf of the General Secretariat of the Association of Arab Universities, I have great pleasure to extend my thanks to UNESCO and to the PEACE Programme for inviting our Association to attend and participate in this important international conference. I would like also to extend my gratefulness to An-Najah National University for having this academic conference. I highly appreciate the university efforts in the organization, and preparation of the conference. All this, coupled with warmth and hospitality, has made this conference possible and distinguished. As many of you know, the Association of Arab Universities is a non­governmental organization headquarter in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and has more than 120 Arab Universities in its membership. These, of course, include the eight Palestinian universities. In fact, I had wanted to speak in detail about the most important goals of the Association which are in full harmony with the aims of this academic conference, but because of pressure of time, I have to speak in brief. I have listened, in this academic conference, to the speeches of organization representatives, the goals of whom cross and meet with ours. We fully support their views and opinions. On behalf of Professor Ihab Hassan lsma'il, Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities, I would like to express our readiness, as an Association to continue providing all assistance possible at our disposal.  For instance, in the few years, a fund has been established to support the Palestinian Universities. Although, the fund, until now, has not achieved all its goals, in terms of funding Palestinian university programme it has succeeded, in the last two years, to secure $40,000 to support scientific research at Palestinian institutions of higher learning. The Association is yet to provide another $40,000 in the near future. The fund administration, based in the university of Jordan and run by the University of Jordan, President Dr. Fawzi Gharaybeh, has raised a considerable amount for the same purpose.  We hope the Palestinian universities will maintain their close contacts with the Association bodies and institutions. This should enable the universities to make active use of them in different ways. _­The Association has the following institutions: ­I. Arab Council for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research. This Council is based in the University of Cairo, Egypt. 2.  Arab Council for the Training of Arab University Graduates. The University of Jordan is home to this Council. 3. Centre for the Registration of University Dissertations. Dissertations are available on microfilms and microfiches. The Centre is based in Ain-Shams University, Egypt. 4. Centre for the Registration of University Theses. This Centre is based in the University of Jordan, Amman. 5. Arab Network for Vocational Development of Faculty Members at Arab Universities. It is based in the University of Alexandria. 6. Support Fund of Palestinian Universities. This also includes all announcements of scientific subjects. The last common scientific prize was co-ordinate with the Association of Arab Universities Research Council based in Baghdad. 7. Scholarly journals in different disciplines. These referred journals are published by the Association centre. Recently, the Council of the Association approved plans for the establishment of scholarly societies for deans of faculties at Arab Universities. Moreover, the Association has called and encouraged twinning projects between Palestinian Universities and their counterparts in the Arab world. This has been initiated by the Arab League's Cultural Committee. A number of twins have been forged with Palestinian universities. Ladies and Gentlemen, I do not want to digress on this, but I would like to emphasize, once again, that the Association of Arab Universities, with all its humble facilities, is willing to co-ordinate and co-operate with the various scientific and cultural institutions: UNESCO, European Community, International Association of Universities ALECSO, International Association of University Presidents and the PEACE Programe for Educational Co-operation with Palestinian Universities.