Vladimir Litvinenko, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Center of Competences in Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO, and Marat Ibatov, Rector of Karaganda Technical University, signed a cooperation agreement, providing for the establishment of the Kazakhstani branch of the Center of Competences based on the university.
It is the eighth foreign division of the structure, the head office of which is in St. Petersburg. As of today, similar branches already work in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, China, Finland, Belarus, and Armenia. Their task is to promote at the national and intergovernmental levels the principles of sustainable development in the mineral sector of the economy and to strengthen global cooperation in the sphere of science and education.
“This is an important event not only for our university but for the entire system of higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We have been working towards this for more than two years. The agreement we have signed will provide a solid foundation for our joint work and will strengthen our cooperation and make it even more fruitful. In our new status, we are ready to provide coordination of participation of engineering higher education institutions, scientific organizations, and industrial companies of the country in programs implemented by the International Center under the auspices of UNESCO. I would like to note that a lot has already been done. Undergraduate and postgraduate students from Kazakhstan participate each year in various forums and take part in summer schools organized by Saint Petersburg Mining University. Besides, our teachers are currently completing their certification within the framework of an international program for certification of mining engineers,” says Marat Ibatov, Rector of Karaganda Technical University.
According to him, by the end of the year, the Republic plans to create a public professional community of universities that train personnel for the mineral sector. At the moment, 15 universities have given their preliminary consent. At the meeting with their heads the main objectives, the list of participants, and the road map of activities of the Kazakhstan branch of the UNESCO Center of Competences for the current academic year were defined.
“We understand perfectly well that Russia and Kazakhstan are the countries possessing mineral and raw material complexes with high potential. Natural resources do not just provide us with the development of today’s economy - they are the basis of its sustainability in the long term. Therefore, the level of professional training of engineers is of utmost importance. We are interested in improving the quality of teachers and graduates who go to work in the mining industry, increasing interest in science, and increasing academic mobility. Within the framework of the UNESCO Competence Center, we have all the opportunities to solve the tasks facing the specialized education with maximum efficiency,” Vladimir Litvinenko emphasized.
Let us remind that the International Competence Center’s network of partners includes more than a hundred technical universities, as well as energy and mining companies around the world, but it is the regional branches that play the role of key coordinators in this integration. The other members have the status of anchor centres or participants in joint programs.