Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University was visited on a working visit by a representative delegation from one of Jordan’s leading private universities—the Jadara University. The delegation that arrived in the city on the Neva included not only the senior management of the educational institution, but also its owner.
Jadara University was founded in 2005. Although it is relatively young by academic standards, the institution has already achieved a number of notable successes. It enrolls approximately 12,000 students, and the total area of its campus amounts to 1,000,000 square meters. The University comprises eight faculties, including the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Information Technology and the Faculty of Engineering.
The interest shown by Middle Eastern colleagues in Russia’s “forge of personnel” for the extractive industries is easy to explain. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan possesses significant phosphate deposits, making it one of the world’s largest exporters of calcium phosphates and phenol derivatives. In addition, the country ranks fourth globally in terms of oil shale reserves. Jordan also has deposits of copper, limestone, marble, uranium, dolomite, kaolin, and salt.
However, the development of Jordan’s mining industry largely depends on foreign investment and expertise. For example, the development of oil shale deposits is carried out by companies from Estonia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. A significant obstacle to the effective exploitation of these deposits by national efforts is the shortage of qualified mining engineers.
Higher education in Jordan is represented by 10 state and more than 20 private universities. An important aspect is that tuition is universally fee-based. Only a limited number of institutions offer financial support programs that help students cover part of their educational expenses. The average annual tuition fee is around USD 8,000, with engineering among the most expensive fields of study.
Given these factors, Jordanian technical universities show strong interest in international cooperation with leading representatives of the global academic community that specialize in the training of engineers in the fields of mining and oil and gas engineering.
During a tour of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, the leadership of Jadara University visited the key research centers, laboratories, and lecture halls, as well as sports facilities, student dormitories, and the Mining Museum.
«We had read a lot about your University, about its scientific achievements in mineral processing and ultra-deep drilling, as well as its work on the Kola Peninsula and in Antarctica, but what we have seen has exceeded all our expectations», - shared the President of the Jordanian university, Hatamleh Habes Mohd Khalifeh.
During a working meeting with Rector Vladimir Litvinenko, the Jordanian colleagues expressed strong interest in the pilot project aimed at modernizing engineering education in Russia, particularly in its close integration with the country’s industrial enterprises, the extensive industrial internships for students, and the implemented system of additional professional competencies. In the Kingdom, universities primarily train narrowly specialized professionals, and this approach is largely unfamiliar in the Jordanian context.
«The competitiveness and quality of graduates are the face of a university. For example, we all understand what artificial intelligence is, but very few people are able to work with it—understand the technology of creating AI programs, and the process of their improvement. Progress requires highly educated specialists with a broad outlook, and additional competencies provide the opportunity to develop exactly such professionals. Companies understand this better than anyone else. Alongside the core educational program, our students may choose to acquire digital competencies, economic culture and financial literacy, a professional foreign language, rhetoric, philosophy of science, and much more. As a result, each of our students receives up to five job offers from employers», - noted the head of the Mining University.
The guests were particularly impressed by the structure of the Mining University’s budget formation. Based on the results of the previous year, only 20 percent of the University’s budget was funded by the state, while the remaining 80 percent came from private investors and from revenues independently generated by the University through the execution of research, scientific and technical, engineering, design, and survey projects.
According to the rector of Jadara University, the experience of Russia's oldest technical university, from the day of its foundation to the present, is of immense value in the field of training the engineering corps.
During the discussion, Vladimir Litvinenko devoted particular attention to the issue of the language of instruction:
«In Jordan, lectures are delivered in Arabic and English, with a clear predominance of the latter. Such an approach leads to the colonization of thinking, which in turn results in the colonization of the country itself. The consciousness of young people is shaped with an orientation toward an external ideology. As the saying goes, doors are opened from the inside. Education should be conducted in the language that is native to students, with the exception, of course, of international internships and specialized educational programs. Only such a model is capable of ensuring sovereign development of the state, autonomous progress, and the formation of a patriotically-minded society. We know that your university is focused on fostering the worldview of your country's citizens, and we share this vision».
At the conclusion of the meeting, the leadership of Jadara University expressed its intention to prepare a cooperation agreement between the two universities. This would include the organization of cross-lectures, participation of Jordanian students in the Mining University’s summer and winter schools, and joint publications. In addition, Hatamleh Habes Mohd Khalifeh addressed the Rector of the Mining University with a proposal to deliver a keynote lecture to their colleagues and faculty members of Jordanian universities.