Under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Education, Professor Youssef bin Abdullah Al-Bunyan, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University in Dammam is hosting the 25th meeting of Presidents and Directors of higher education institutions in the Kingdom and the countries of the GCC and it will be held in the 25th and 26th of January 2023.
The President of the University, His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish, welcomed the guests of the university and the region, indicating that this meeting is regarded as a continuation to previous meetings that already achieved many outcomes and highly added to the area of education in the Kingdom and the Gulf countries. Now, IAU is hosting this meeting at its 25th edition, for us to continue the journey and to build on these previous efforts. In the meeting we will exchange experiences and discuss the most prominent educational practices in all fields and disciplines. We will also promote concepts that are newly emerged in the world where regional cooperation has become a must to examine and study educational issues and methods of developing them, and to shape new horizons which will contribute to the wheel of growth in various fields.
Dr. Al-Rubaish pointed out that these meetings will be held along two days and will be accompanied by a scientific symposium entitled: (The Role of Universities in achieving the Objectives of the Capacity Development Program), with the participation of a number of speakers from universities’ presidents and directors.
The symposium aims at introducing the program and its initiatives that can anticipates future job opportunities in the business sectors. It reviews the universities’ role in building advanced skills to meet the requirements of the future and to strengthen the values, the sense of national belonging and global citizenship. It also identifies the universities’ efforts in innovation, entrepreneurship and in activating partnerships with the industrial and development sectors to achieve the requirements of the coming industrial revolution and many other goals.
Dr. Al-Rubaish mentioned that the symposium tackles 3 themes: The first theme is: (Attributes of a Globally Competitive Citizen), the second theme is: (Universities and Future Job Market), and finally the last theme is: (Lifelong Learning). He explained that the universities, through these meetings and symposiums, aim at improving their outputs as well as qualifying their students in various scientific and theoretical disciplines to keep pace with the aspirations of the future and the rapid changes in the world. He added that the information technological revolution as well as the rapid communications imposed new challenges on universities which requires a serious review to what universities can offer to the educational, academic and research fields.
