By: Mona Abdullah
A joint meeting between the University of Science and Technology and a delegation from the British Council head office in United Kingdom took place at UST Language Center. They discussed ways of joint cooperation for developing English language for students and professors, and mechanism of accrediting the University as a center for IELTS exam, the “International English Language Testing System” and some other specialized exams.
The delegation headed by Director of Training and English Language Examinations Department at the British Council, Kevin McLevin, and Director of the English Language Department, Robert Foley, met with Dr. Eng. Sarah Muhammad Al-Makawi, UST Vice President for Financial and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Wael Khojali Othman, Director of Language Center, Dr. Youssef Al-Gazouli, Curriculum Coordinator, and Professor Mujahid Hamed, Coordinator of Partnerships and Programs, and Professor Soraya Nashat, Director of the Executive Office of Language Center. The meeting reviewed ways to develop English language and curricula, and establish a partnership regarding preparation and examination for the international IELTS test, as well as holding the exam at UST Language Center as it is a leading university for most Sudanese universities and holding advanced positions on world rankings of universities.
UST Vice President for Financial and Administrative Affairs said that the smart partnership with British Council aims to develop the university’s language center and to contribute to improving curricula for the English language. In the enlightenment to the British Council delegation, she added that UST is one of the oldest universities in Sudan and open to the capital’s localities and all other Sudanese states, revealing the university’s keenness to hold fruitful partnerships to develop and serve the community through its social responsibility, as it sent several student missions for training abroad. She said that they seek to train students in a number of countries that have strategic partnerships with the university, including (Malaysia, Norway, Libya and other countries) to gain global experience in addition to the trend of establishing centers according to the scientific specializations at the colleges promising to implement all requirements that suit the work of the British Council from specialized halls to the other training requirements.
Director of the Language Center, Dr. Wael Khojali Othman, said that the idea of Language Center dates back to the efforts of Dr. Sarah since 2006 when she was studying English for specialized purposes (ESP) at the College of Engineering, in addition to supervising teacher training center at the time that aims to train teachers and started its activity as per directives of UST president, Dr. Al Moataz Al Birarir, and his vice Professor Abdel-Raouf Al-Otaibi, to qualify students and provide them with all English language skills, and to train more than 5 thousand students from all faculties and majors. He said that the program found acceptance and contributed to many of the problems facing them, revealing directives of UST president to comprehensive to cover to all levels for all university’s faculties, while reviewing a video about the march of UST over the course of 25 years including its academic activities, research, academic and cultural centers, and its societal responsibility programs including scholarships that reached (6) thousand scholarships for needy students and less developed regions such as Sheikh Muhammad Ahmed Al Birair scholarship and Hajja Thuraya Al Maqbool scholarship.
For their part, representatives of the British Council delegation explained that UST drew their attention by achieving first place among private Sudanese universities on global rankings for two times consequently. They considered that the idea of establishing Language Center is the actual beginning for developing and qualifying staff and students inside and outside the university, and establishing partnerships with the British Council. The delegation praised the university and its infrastructure as well as the Language Center, its programs and management, and promised to provide international services by providing professors of advanced curricula to support the university community, technology graduates in particular, and all those interested from other universities in general.