The first international scientific conference... it's notion, objectives, and recommendations
Under the sponsorship of Syrian interim governmnt, Free Aleppo university in the liberated areas and Medad center For studies and research organaized the first international scientific conference titled by “The higher education during the crises”, between 5,6 November 2022.
The idea of the conference has started since two years due to increasing the crises caused by conflicts, natural disasters and epidemics in the world, specially in the light of Covid 19 and these crises may extend to all ages and continue for next generations.
The concern in the idea of the subject image, dialogue and revolutions in an over the world, as well as in the Syrian culture and contribute to sustainable development.
The conference's Objectives:
The coference sought to achieve many goals, including presenting global and successful experiences in the higher education in crises to know the latest academic and apllied studies and research in higher education in crises.
The conference is looking forward to know the challenges that empposed by the war circumstances, displacement and epidemics, that face the higher education and searching the way to overcom them.
In addition to know the reality of the higher education to Syrian students inside Syria or the neighbouring countries and ways to support them and recorrecting the psychological results of the war to the Syrian young education.
The prime minister of Syrian interim government accompanied by many on ministers attended the conference for two days as well as the president of higher education council the presidency of Free Aleppo university in the liberated areas and the council of the university secretaies, deans of faculties and the teaching, technical and administrative staff.
In addition to education without limits organisation – Medad, the research and studies center and a number of universities hectors and number of study and research centers, moreover hundreds of academic and researchers.
The axes of the conference:
There were five main axes included:
- Firstly: crises and its impact towards the higher education.
- Secondly: The international experiences in the administration of higher education during crises.
- Thirdly: Higher education during Covid 19.
- Fourthly: The higher education during wars and crises (The Syrian state as a sample).
- Fifthly: The psychological results towards the higher education.
More than 60 researchers participated in the conference from Syria, Turkiea, Europe, and America. Morethan 50 scientific researches and work papers throughout physical or attendence online. The researches and papers were discussed in scientific and organized way before many specialists and academic researchers.
Studies and researches guide:
The conference included showing “the studies and researches guide in the north west of Syria 2022”, which had been prepared by the studies and researches center at Free Aleppo university, 2020 IDEA institution in cooperative with Medad institution, Orange organisation, and AlRwad organisation for cooperation and development.
The importance of the researches guide from nesisity of improving efforts of scientific researches in developing the response for the society needs in the liberated areas through relying on this research guide from scientific research centers and after graduated students, the governmental institutions and development organisations.
As well as to highlight its importance from making use of the private sector from the outputs of the scientific research and studies in this guide.
The objectives of the studies and researches guide included the chiocing subjects that aim at serving the needs of Syrian society in the liberated areas and serve its cases.
In addition to contributing to the governance of scientific research in the higher education sectors, and to support alliance and cooperation between the main actors in the field of scientific research.
The guide was a result of efforts of four university, higher education council, eight research centers, twenty organisation, 229 participants in the workshops, 95 participants in the questionaires, 72 participants in the audit and review committees, aiming at 10 axes, 77 sun-sectors, and 689 research issues.
The axes in the research and studies guide included:
- Basic and Engineering science axis.
- Food Security axis.
- Education axis.
- Development and Economy axis.
- Human science axis.
- Sharea and Awqaf axis.
- Healthy axis.
- Politics and Puplic Relations axis.
- Legal axis.
- Civil Society axis.
As for the outcomes of the guid were governce to the administration of scientific research process, finding a group of stakeholders who supervises the implementation of the guid outcomes and establishes an interactive website for current scientific research and update it periodically.
As well as the projects and development programms depending on the guid outcomes in the liberated areas and marketing these outcomes to the donores and businessmen inside Syria and outside.
In this recommendation, we encorage the past graduate students to choose research titles inferred from the guide outcomes and to combine the grands for higher studies with these outcomes and crowd the efforts and resources to fund the applied researshes in the liberated areas.
Evaluation of Free Aleppo university in the liberated areas:
The annual report was presented during the conferencetitled by “Evaluation of Free Aleppo university in the liberated areas” in 2021/2022 that had prepared by Medad center for studies and researches and support coordination unit ACU.
This study depends on its evaluation on the most important axes for quality of higher education that agreed by academic evaluation institutions and references such as Arab universities union and European standards for the quality of higher education.
This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of Free Aleppo university in the liberated areas based on specific evaluation and to identify the weakness and strength points at the university.
It is possible to do a suitable studies in the next years to know the progress that achieved by the university and to develop plans to solve problems.
The importance of study comes from its help in identifying the university needs and its work to enable decision makers to make necessary steps to develope the university as well as to improve the quality of education and to inform the administrative and scientific views.
and also it helps to reional and international institutions and universities to know the reality of Free Aleppo university to cooperate with it and prepare for getting international recognition which is considered the dream of all Syrian students and academics.
Conference Recommendations:
At the end of the activities of the conference, the organizers recommended the following:
1- Continuing the educational progress in the crises, wars, illnesses and epidemecs which convenient the available abilities.
2- To improve the level of the higher education quality at the university institutions in the liberated areas which live in the war crisis in spite of the lack of financial capabilties.
3- To make use of the international experiences that have the same healthy and safety conditions and how they dealt with higher education.
4- Providing the psychological guide and support for students and teachers in the higher education’s environments who affected by crises and wars to ensure thier success.
5- To support the immigrated Syrian students in neighbouring countries as a part of the Syrian society who will contribute to Syia’s building in the future.
6- Holding periodic scientific conferences at the level of colleges in particular and in the level of the university in general.
7- Linking the higher education outputs during the crises with the labor marketing needs and the needs of the society in general.
To develop the educational sofware and online educational mechanisms to improver it’s quality during crises.
9- Developing the teaching plans in different faculties at Free Aleppo university with its counterpart in European and arab universities such as the Islamic university in Gazah.
10- Making a continuos evaluation for higher education during crises through objective mechanisms and organized procedures after activation the role of civil society organizations and institutions in supporting higher education inside Syria.
11- Empowering marginalized groups and their participation in and securing higher education for them.
It is worth noting that this conference was organized by the free Aleppo university in the liberated areas, and the Midad Center for Studies and Research, and co-sponsored by: the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Qatar, the ACU, SAMS, Aleppo Today TV, and Syria TV
