Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Professional Training, Dr. Samaya Ibn Khaldun, and Deputy Minister, Dr. Abdul Aziz Osmani, who were in Tehran to participate in Ministerial Conference of NAM, visited Alzahra University chancellor and official authorities in Tuesday, February 24th , 2015.
The meeting was held with the presence of the following board of Alzahra University members: University Chancellor, Dr. Khazali; Director of International Academic Collaborations, Dr. Marandi; Deputy of Research, Dr. Zahedi; Dean of Engineering Faculty, Dr. Seyf Barghi; Dean of Basic Sciences, Dr. Shoorshini; Dean of Literature, Foreign Languages and History Faculty, Dr Ghahramani and the faculty’s Deputy of Educational Affairs, Dr. Navarchi; and Dr. Rezvan Talab.
The meeting started with an introductory movie about the university. Thereafter, the chancellor welcomed the guests and gave some basic information about the university faculties, number of students and faculty members, as well as the national or international awards received by the university students and professors. Dr. Khazali mentioned: “Currently there are some national projects at hand and we are hopeful that by implementing these projects we also will be able to provide educational services to the regional countries.”
Ibn Khaldun mentioned to the fiftieth anniversary of Alzahra University establishment and asked about the motives behind the foundation of this university. “The land of this place and the primary facilities of this university have been devoted to the female’s higher education before the revolution, and after that the university is endowed to the government of Islamic Republic of Iran by Awqaf Organization.” Dr. Khazali responded. Director of International Academic Collaborations also added: “This place is devoted to female’s higher education in the time that women had the least access to it, while today women include more than 60% of the country’s university entrants.”
The Dean of Engineering faculty subsequently introduced the aforementioned faculty: “We have about 1000 students and 22 faculty members which are going to be expanded to 30 in the upcoming five years.” Dr. Seyf Barghi also pointed to the acceptance of females in engineering fields and said: “Iranian females are significantly interested in engineering programs. In the majors like Mechanical and Civil Engineering our primary goal is to offer the branches with more job opportunities for women in the future. We also attempt to include specialized software training and essential workshops in the programs, so that the students would have more job opportunities after graduation.”
Later the Dean of Physic-Chemistry Faculty started to introduce the related unit: “The students are about 1000 and we have 44 faculty members including more than twenty Professors and Associate Professors. With forty years of experience, many high quality research projects currently are being conducted in this faculty.” In addition, the university’s Deputy of Research pointed to the academic member’s achievements by referring to Dr. Majid Heravy who has been honored as the Top Scientist of the year, and the title of International Scientist which has been given to Dr. Morteza Shiri, who is also the director of Industry Relations’ office.
“The Literature and Foreign Languages Faculty has about 1300 students and 55 faculty members,” Dean of related faculty said and continued: “Besides the Persian Language and Literature, the English language literature, and the Arabic, French, and Russian languages are among the programs presented by this faculty. Moreover, the history department which is one of the best nationwide, with the most outstanding professors, offers two branches of Islamic History and Contemporary History of Iran.” She also noted to the studies the university devoted to the localization of English Language Teaching in Iran and added: “The Department of Teaching Persian Language to Non-Persian Speakers is ready to accept foreign applicants.”
Afterwards, Dr. Khazali, the university chancellor, explained about the programs tuition fees and accommodations for foreign students. According to her, five scholarships are considered to be given to non-Iranian top students with bachelor’s degree who are graduated from the universities inside and outside of Iran. The amount of tuition fees are decided by the board of trustees and vary for different branches and different levels. At the end she announced that the construction of student’s residential and dormitory for non-Iranian students is planned to be finished in the following 18 months.
In the rest of the meeting Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education demonstrated the situation of education in their country and said: “Currently we have about 700 thousands students including 3000 foreigners, and the children African countries’ ministers are mostly studying in Morocco. Among the African universities, ours are in the highest ranks after the South Africans.” Ibn Khaldun subsequently referred to the country’s political stability and considered it as the most important factor in receiving high demands for further education from Arabian and African countries.
At the end of the meeting a number of Iranian handcrafts were presented to the guests as gifts. The guests later were given a tour around the faculties of Literature and Foreign Languages and Physic Chemistry before being guided to the main university campus. Another meeting also was held in the Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, in which the Faculty Dean, Head of Departments, professors and students participated. The Head of Arabic Language Department welcomed the guest, introduced the colleagues and also gave a brief lecture about the faculty. Ibn Khaldun also expressed her pleasure of participating in the meeting and gave a detailed explanation about the socio-political situation of her country. Afterwards, the guest were guided to the Faculty of Physic Chemistry and visited its’ chemistry research laboratory after Zuhr prayer. At the end of their visit, the guest, accompanied by two French and Arabic graduate students, left the university and headed to Ruhollah Khomeini’s house, the founder of the Islamic Republic, in Jamaran.