SPbPU: BRICS Education Ministers Emphasize Russian-African Network University Partnerships

BRICS education ministers met at the Shaping the Future international forum in Kazan. Russia was represented at the event by Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov and Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov. Maxim Zalyvsky, Head of the Project Office of the Russian-African Network University, and Alla Mazina, RAFU Secretary and Deputy Head of the International Education Department, took part in the event as part of the SPbPU delegation.

The event was attended by Minister of Education of the UAE Ahmad Al-Falasi, Minister of Education of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ashour, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education of China Chen Jie, Deputy Minister of Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran Omid Rezaei Far, delegates from India, South Africa and Brazil.

Following the meeting, the participants signed the declaration of the 11th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting, as well as a protocol on Egypt, Iran and the UAE joining the 2015 BRICS Network University Memorandum of Understanding.

The event highlighted the African vector of BRICS development. Egypt and Ethiopia, which joined the organization this year, are, along with South Africa, the leading economies of Africa, the key partners of the Russian Federation on the continent, actively developing not only their industrial and economic relations with our country, but also cultural and educational cooperation. In this connection, the RAFU activity within the framework of deepening of cooperation and level of integration of mutual interests with the African countries, members of BRICS, is extremely important.

The RAFU delegation held a number of meetings with representatives of African countries in Kazan, where the parties expressed their interest in developing contacts with Russian universities.