Teachers urged to promote high techI

SHARJAH — The Islamic nation is facing a host of daunting challenges which have drastically affected its present and future, according to Dr Ismail Al Beshri, Chancellor of University of Sharjah (UoS).

By A Staff Reporter

Published: Tue 30 May 2006, 11:10 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 1:53 PM

“It is natural that education in general and universities in particular stand up to these sensitive challenges,” he said at the opening of the 11th edition of the meeting of Executive Council of Islamic Universities Association which opened in Sharjah on Sunday.

The meeting is being hosted by University of Sharjah in line with the directives of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.

Al Beshri said, “We are demanding the need to develop and update our curricula to cope with the requirements of our countries and its human resources. We need to exchange information and researches and adapt them to a comprehensive development plan."

"Further, we need to challenge the intellectual and cultural invasion that our country is facing from all corners,” he noted.

He called for adopting the moderation balanced approach in dealing with the current challenges. “We need to look at our present with transparency in our system and self-criticism to help our future growth.”

Commenting on the blasphemous Danish cartoon issue, Abdullah Jasbi, Chancellor of Azad Islamic University and Chairman of the Executive Council, called for mobilising of Islamic efforts against such offences through extensive promotion of tolerant Islamic values.

"Members of the Islamic Universities Association should draw a plan for technological advancement away from territorial disputes, facilitate movement of scholars, scientists and researchers, and encourage mutual visits of students,” he added.

New programmes, he emphasised, should be introduced to meet Islamic communities' requirements for modern technology.

Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) Dr Abdul Aziz Al Tuwaijri, stressed the vital importance of modernising education, terming the drive as one of the key issues being discussed at international forums today.

In his address read on his behalf by Dr Mustapha Al Zabakh, Director of the Islamic Universities Association's Secretariat-General, the head of Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation said the meeting would discuss the 2007-2009 action plan which will help the Association make more achievements.