The Ambassador of Jordan has visited St Petersburg University

Welcoming the guest at St Petersburg University, the Rector of the University Nikolay Kropachev noted that at present research and academic contacts with Jordanian universities are not active enough, but a meeting at such a high level will help to change the situation for the better. He said that the University has a special status which provides it with unique opportunities: in particular, St Petersburg University is granted the right to work according to its own educational standards and to establish the procedures for thesis defence. The University is also allowed to issue its own diploma of education, which differs meaningfully from documents of other Russian universities: a QR code is printed on the pages of the St Petersburg University diploma allowing the employer to find all the information about the graduate on the University website. Here they will be able to get acquainted with the qualification paper of a student and watch a video of the defence; find out who their research supervisor was and where they did their internship; as well as read about their achievements or academic failures.

Nikolay Kropachev noted that a close relationship with employers is integral to St Petersburg University. Business representatives not only determine the topics of qualification papers and listen to their answers at final exams, but also participate in the work of the councils of educational programmes. Thus, employers have the opportunity not only to influence the content of existing programmes, but also to initiate the creation of new ones. Only during last year, more than 20 programmes were introduced at the University at the suggestion of external specialists. All in all, today there are more than 400 main educational programmes at St Petersburg University, and 140 of them were created by such councils. Scientists, professors and business representatives from different countries have participated actively in the work of these councils. As a result, the number of programmes with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hungarian and other components has increased several times.

The Rector of St Petersburg University invited the guest to take part in the work of the councils of educational programmes. This will make possible to introduce Jordan as a component not only into the course of Asian studies, but also into other fields of study and will help students to get acquainted with this country through scientific achievements.

Mr Amjad Odeh Adaileh said that he was well aware of the reputation of St Petersburg University, and thanked for the opportunity to expand relationships. First of all, he proposed that St Petersburg University signs a direct agreement with the Ministry of Education and Science of Jordan. The University entered into a similar agreement in 2015 with the Ministry of Education of China, which made it possible to effectively build relations with educational institutions in China and double the number of educational programmes with a Chinese component.

The diplomat also inquired whether it is possible to create an educational programme in Arabic at St Petersburg University. «In the light of the growing role of Russia in the Middle East, we consider it important to create programmes that promote a greater understanding of the Arab and Islamic world and the processes occurring in them,» Mr Amjad Odeh Adaileh explained. «I think that the creation of a fully Arabic educational programme will expand the possibilities for learning the language and culture. For my part, I am ready to do my best to strengthen our cooperation.»

The Ambassador of Jordan said that he is ready to head the council of the future educational programme and can already name colleagues who will also take part in this work.