Home - News - Rectors of major Russian and Cuban universities discuss cooperation in the field of education

01 June 2017

 

UNN Rector Evgeny Chuprunov and Vice-Rector for International Affairs Alexander Bedny took part in the Third Forum of Rectors of Russian and Cuban Universities held in Havana on May 23. The iconic Hotel Nacional hosted the leaders of 16 Russian and more than 20 Cuban universities. The Forum was organized by the Ministry of Higher Education of Cuba and the Russian Union of Rectors. The Russian Embassy in Cuba and the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Havana have also provided assistance in organizing the meeting.

"Historically, relations between Cuba and Russia have been excellent at all levels and in all areas, and cooperation in higher education is no exception. From 1965 to 1993, 21.5 thousand Cubans received education in the Soviet Union, of which more than 16 thousand graduated from higher educational institutions", said Jose Ramon Saborido, Cuba’s Minister of Higher Education of Cuba as he opened the forum. He noted that in recent years Russian-Cuban cooperation in the field of education is actively developing, and expressed confidence that the current forum will contribute to strengthening the ties between the universities of both countries.

From the Cuban side, the rectors of the University of Havana, the Havana University of Technology, the University of Education Sciences, the University of Informatics Sciences, and the largest universities of Cuba’s several provinces - Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Artemis, Cienfuegos, Camagüey, Holguin, Guantanamo - took part in the forum. Following the meetings with representatives of the Cuban side, Lobachevsky University signed two new cooperation agreements - with the University of  Informatics Sciences of Havana and the University of Guantanamo. The new agreements provide for the development of scientific and educational relations between the Russian and the Cuban institutions of higher learning,  exchange programs for students and faculty members, as well as joint research. 

The first forum of Rectors of Russian and Cuban universities was held in 2014 in Kazan, the second took place in 2015 in Havana.