With the Participation of 40 University Presidents from Europe
Next Saturday Bethlehem University Will Host the 6th General Assembly of the PEACE Program
Al-Quds Newspaper
24 February 2005
Bethlehem – from Najib Farraj. This coming Saturday, Bethlehem University will host the 6th General Assembly of the PEACE Program (Palestinian-European-American Cooperation in Education). The event will take place over the course of two days. Approximately 40 university presidents from Europe and the West Bank will attend. Gaza university presidents will not attend because the Israeli authorities are denying them permits to enter the West Bank.
Prof. Manuel Hassassian, President of the Steering Committee of the PEACE Program and Executive Vice President of Bethlehem University, stated that this Conference is very important because it convenes in Palestine for the first time since 1996. Last time it took place in An-Najah University. The other four conferences had taken place in Paris. He added that on the second day, sessions will take place on university education and its impact on the development of Palestinian civic society.
Hassassian said that Dr. Naim Abu Hommos, Minister of Education and Higher Education, will be the keynote speaker. Three papers will be submitted during the conference. Prof. Hassassian will present the first paper addressing the development of higher education in Palestine. Prof. Annick Souser Wanyer, Vice President of Paris South University, will present the second paper on university cooperation as a venue for the development of university capabilities. Louisa Morgantini, Head of the Development Department in the European Parliament, will present the third paper on the role of higher education in supporting the development of Palestinian civic society.
Prof. Hassassian stated that the conference is important to the Palestinian people and to the educational sector as a whole, and that in one way or another, he considers this large gathering of European academicians as a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people’s just cause. He added that the PEACE Program will mobilize joint cooperation, the exchange of expertise, will give scholarships to Palestinian students, and support the development of the various universities.
During his talk with Al-Quds Newspaper, Prof. Hassassian stated that approximately 100 universities are members in the PEACE Program, and that the Program was founded in 1991 before the Palestinian Authority was founded. The Program has set for itself several objectives, namely to raise the level of Palestinian universities in the fields of education, teaching, research, quality assurance and professionalism, raising the quality of administrators, giving M.A. scholarships to students and Ph.D. scholarships to faculty members, developing bilateral cooperation in specific program areas, helping develop the infrastructure of Palestinian universities through the provision of computers and laboratory equipment, and helping in the development of the human resources available in Palestinian universities, so as to have sustainable development and quality.
