The Ministry of Higher Education Announced a (650,000) US Dollars Technology Development Project in the Kurdistan Region

The Ministry of Higher Education announced a $650,000 US technology development project in the Kurdistan Region. The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the US Consul General in the Kurdistan Region announced the project (American Technology Development in the Kurdistan Region) which is worth (650,000) six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and it will be implemented in three universities (Erbil Polytechnic University, Sulaimani Polytechnic University and Duhok Polytechnic University).

The announcement of the project was made at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research during a press conference, and it was done in the presence of Dr. Aram Mohammed Qadir, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Ervin Hicks, Consul General of the State. The meeting was attended by the Presidents of a number of universities, advisors and general managers of the Ministry.

In the press conference, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research thanked the US government, the US Ambassador and Consul in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as well as he thanked the US organization (USAID) for implementing this important project. He said that this project will be implemented in the amount of (650,000 USD) in all the three mentioned universities, which consists of (9) nine scientific laboratories with the latest modern scientific equipment for each of the laboratories. Special training will be provided to the local staff and university teachers so that they can use the laboratories scientifically for educational purposes.

Dr. Aram Mohammed Qadir explained that the project is an important step towards paying more attention to the youth of our country to improve their skills in the field of information technology, especially in the fields of (telecommunications), (IT) and (networking). He explained that the implementation of this project, as part of the reform of our ministry in the field of higher education, is important and they are capable of finding their place in the labor market and getting job opportunities very well because the curricula in Kurdistan universities to some extent cannot respond to today’s reality.

Regarding the curricula of these laboratories, Dr. Aram Mohammed Qadir revealed that the programs are developed in a standard manner in coordination between Kurdistan Polytechnic Universities and our partners in the United States, the private sector and the industrial sector and are constantly updated. The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research devoted another part of his speech to vocational education and the efforts of his ministry in this direction, and finally he emphasized on the continuation of relations with the US government, and scientific organizations and institutions for educating young people and a conscious generation.

Then (Ervin Hicks) Consul General of the United States in the Kurdistan Region, thanked the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, then he talked about the different aspects of the project and said: The laboratories built in the universities under this project will be an important station to help and train students in a modern way, so that they can compete not only in Kurdistan, but also in the world market and creates a solid foundation for other people in Kurdistan to connect with the outside world in terms of trade and culture. He highlighted that the implementation of the project shows his country’s commitment to support the education sector in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, while it is also a sign to expand the level of relations in terms of trade and investment.

Finally, the US Consul General in the Kurdistan Region thanked the efforts of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Kurdistan Region, as well as, the universities. He also thanked IREX and Tennessee College of Technology in the United States for the financial support because they undertook the implementation of the project in the universities of the Kurdistan Region.