Beginning of educational and skill diplomacy/preparation to create a learning network between ECO countries

According to the education reporter of Fars news agency, Yousef Nouri, the Minister of Education, met Akef Karchi, head of ECO Educational Institute, at the Shahid Rajaei building of this ministry.

Yousef Nouri, the Minister of Education, congratulated the new year and said: The order of the 13th government is to communicate with neighboring and allied countries, and the Ministry of Education has started educational diplomacy with neighboring countries.

Stating that we have made great progress in the field of students and teachers, he said: In the field of education, our students are among the leaders of scientific and professional Olympiads. In cultural fields, students and teachers of Iran have the first ranks of Quran.

Pointing out that we are one of the oldest countries in the field of editing and publishing textbooks, Nouri added: It seems that these are good areas for cooperation and through a diplomacy program we can achieve synergy. We hope that an executive memorandum will be concluded soon to carry out joint activities, which undoubtedly, due to the cultural similarity with the neighboring countries, the educational program can be implemented in the ECO member countries.

* Skill diplomacy was planned

Mohammad Mahdi Kazemi, the deputy of secondary education of the Ministry of Education, also said in this meeting: With regard to the training of specialists in the field of human resource development and also the effect of these trainings in line with economic development, technical and vocational trainings were formed in Iran and are 100 years old. In this direction and with the aim of implementing government policies, the development of skills training with neighboring countries was planned under the title of skill diplomacy.

Stating that the goal of skill diplomacy is greater communication and interaction in the field of human resources, he added: establishing joint conservatories between the two countries, holding bilateral or multilateral festivals and Olympiads between the countries, and exchanging experiences in the technical and professional fields and teachers. It is one of the measures that can be taken in this direction.

* Providing complementary education activities

In this meeting, Hamed Mahgati, the CEO of the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents, said: The artistic and literary activities of this center are mostly offered to children and teenagers in an informal environment, but they are complementary to the educational activities.

He stated that we had a good experience in various exhibitions that we can transfer and added: We are ready to transfer experiences.

* Providing educational and cultural activities inside and outside the school

Asghar Bagherzadeh, the vice-president of education and culture of the Ministry of Education, also said in this program: Iran’s education and culture offers cultural and educational activities inside and outside the school, which are activities inside the school in the form of student councils, membership in student organizations, student journalists, implementation Cultural and religious programs, educational and training workshops and talent search and Quranic, educational and cultural competitions are implemented.

He added: Among the activities outside the school, students participate in various scientific and tourist camps and conduct campaigns with the aim of dealing with social harms, preserving the environment, social order and controlling energy consumption.

* Designing the book of international students for all students of ECO member countries

In this meeting, Akef Karchi, the head of ECO Educational Institute, stated that he had visited this ministry in 2019 and 2020, and stated: ECO Institute is an international institution and was established on the basis of international treaties and became operational in 2017.

He continued: Last year, we signed the memorandum of understanding of the host country, and our members include the countries of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkey. This institution works through a board of trustees, which includes member countries; A section is composed of foreign ministers of the member countries.

Karchi added: We also have an academic council where the Ministry of Education of Iran can appoint one person in this council and our activities must be highly effective. We designed a postgraduate program for students from member countries to be guests, and two PhD students are going to visit Iran, and a book for international students will be designed for all students from member countries.

He stated that we are designing a guide book for the information that students need, which is about important personalities and buildings in the Eko region, and continued: We also have a program for the exchange of music teachers, which of course has been postponed due to the Corona issue. We also designed a website for students and are collecting information from students of member countries to put in a single database.

The head of Eko Educational Institute added: We worked on the method of teaching different languages ​​in the member countries and the book has been published, and we started with the state of basic science and mathematics education and went to chemistry and biology.

* Preparing to create a learning network between ECO member countries

Yousef Nouri, the Minister of Education, said at the end: Despite the arrogance conspiracy and comprehensive sanctions, with the efforts of school teachers, university professors and parents of students, the Islamic Republic has achieved many successes in various fields, and these successes are at the global level, especially in the field of Nano, stem cells and peaceful nuclear energy and other new technologies.

He continued: Last year, we had 20 global gold medals in basic sciences, and our students also won 12 silver and bronze medals.

Nouri added: My suggestion is to have a joint training program according to the capacity of the member countries, and we are ready to create a learning network between the member countries.

* A session in Farsi, English and Istanbul Turkish languages

In today’s meeting, Hamed Shalti, the CEO of the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents, presented a report in Istanbul Turkish, and Hojjatul Islam Walmuslimin Latifi, the head of the Educational Research and Planning Organization, gave a report in English.

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