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| Wednesday, 2 July 2003 |
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by Manjula Fernando Sri Lankan students pursuing Islam and Arabic studies will have the opportunity to visit Egypt in future, under a new student exchange program, one of the facilities in the agreement signed recently between the governments of Sri Lanka and Egypt. The agreement is aimed at promoting Arabic and Islamic studies in the local Universities. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this respect was signed between Tertiary Education Minister Kabeer Hasheem and a Representative of the Egyptian Government during the Minister's visit to Cairo last week. "The assistance will be channelled through the prestigious Cairo University," a Tertiary Education and Training Ministry spokesman said yesterday. Shortage of competent lecturers and resources cause the lack of enthusiasm among university students to pursue Islamic and Arabic studies here. This agreement is expected to rectify this shortcoming and receive assistance from the giants in the field," the spokesman said. According to statistics 24 undergraduates in 1998 pursued Arabic and it has increased to a mere 36 last year. The number of students who pursued Islamic studies and Islamic civilisation have however, gone down from 112 in 1998/99 academic year to 95 in 2002/03. The MoU will pave the way to obtain services of visiting lecturers from the prestigious Cairo University as well as organise joint research and seminars. Facilities for postgraduate studies and academic staff development including teacher exchange programs are among other objectives under the agreement. The Tertiary Education Ministry hopes to enhance Islamic and Arabic study facilities in Peradeniya, Eastern and Southeastern Universities. |
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