RAFU at the BRICS Education Ministers Meeting in Kazan

The BRICS Ministers of Education met on the margins of the International Forum "Shaping the Future". Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov and Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov represented Russia at the event.

Opening the meeting, Valery Falkov expressed gratitude to his foreign colleagues for the work done in the field of science and education and welcomed the partners who joined BRICS this year - Egypt, Iran and the UAE. He added that more than 20 more countries have officially applied to join the association.   

"This year has been a truly historic year for the BRICS association. It is the first time we are meeting in an enlarged composition. I am convinced that the participation of new countries will enrich the agenda and multiply joint endeavours for the benefit of our peoples. In the year of Russia's BRICS Chairmanship, we continue our course of increasing the pace of interaction, implementing ongoing projects and launching new initiatives. The steps we take today will be the basis for future achievements," said the head of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. (Quote from the website of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science)

The event was attended by UAE Minister of Education Ahmad Al-Falasi, Minister of Education of the Arab Republic of Egypt Ayman Ashour, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China Chen Jie, Deputy Minister of Technology and Innovation of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran Omid Rezaei Far, delegates from India, South Africa and Brazil.

The Head of the RAFU Project Office Maksim Zalyvsky and Secretary of the RAFU Presidium Alla Mazina took part in the event as part of the RAFU delegation.

During the event, the African vector of BRICS development was emphasised. Egypt and Ethiopia, which joined BRICS this year, are, along with South Africa, the leading economies of Africa, the key partners of the Russian Federation on the continent, actively developing not only their industrial and economic relations with our country, but also cultural and educational cooperation. In this regard, the RAFU activity within the framework of deepening co-operation and the level of integration of mutual interests with African countries, members of BRICS, seems to be extremely important.

According to Falkov, in terms of higher education, Russia is interested in having as many students from BRICS countries as possible come and study programmes in Russian universities, adding that, for example, the number of students coming from Egypt is growing from year to year.

The RAFU delegation held a number of meetings with representatives of African countries in Kazan, during which the representatives of the delegations expressed their interest in developing contacts with Russian universities.