Syrian delegates from the Ministry of Higher Education visit WHO Regional Office and Egyptian universities
21 December 2011.

To enhance collaboration and exchange experiences among universities in the Region, a Syrian delegation representing the Ministry of Higher Education and government universities is visiting the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, and the Suez Canal University and Alexandria University. The delegates are being briefed on educational methods, approaches and mechanisms that have enabled the Suez Canal University to obtain international accreditation in the field of medical education. The visit, which started on 18 December, comes as a follow-up to a previous visit by officials from Suez Canal University to Damascus University last July 2011.

Dr Nazar Al-Taher, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and head of the delegation, said that the objective of the visit was to benefit from the distinguished experiences of both the Suez Canal and Alexandria University in becoming acquainted with new teaching methods and acquiring clinical skills. He said that they had attended teaching sessions and noted that there was a keen focus on providing students with professional skills to increase their efficiency. This had encouraged enhanced cooperation through the signing of a memorandum of understanding between government universities in the Syrian Arab Republic and the Suez Canal University.

The delegation was received at the Regional Office by Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. Dr Gezairy was presented with a letter of appreciation on behalf of H.E. Dr Abdul Razzak Sheikh Eissa, Minister of Higher Education, Syrian Arab Republic, acknowledging the distinguished efforts of the Regional Director and his continuous endeavours to support health sectors all over the Region. The delegation was also briefed by Dr Naeema Al-Gasseer, Assistant Regional Director and WHO Representative, Egypt, and WHO staff on the various programmes related to medical education. Dr Ibrahim Betelmal, WHO Representative, Syrian Arab Republic, also attended the brief. There was consensus that the world was facing a problem with regard to health and medical education, represented by the gap between the curriculum of medical colleges and the real and actual needs of communities. Some countries were addressing this issue through conducting more community-directed education.

The delegation also discussed issues related to enhancing collaboration between Egyptian and Syrian universities with the Minister of Higher Education, H.E. Dr Hussein Khalid. The delegation will next visit the University of Alexandria for a briefing on the experience of the Faculty of Nursing as the first in the Region to be accredited.