Shafaq News/ The President of the Republic of Iraq, Barham Salih, on Sunday met with a group of deans and professors from different Iraqi universities. The meeting was held at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad.
The educational process in addition to the politics-related matters in Iraq was discussed during the meeting.
Iraqi universities have earned a good reputation in the international forums despite the difficulties that they faced in the previous period, President Salih asserted, high qualified persons and scientific and academic staff of Iraq showed themselves worthy in the international forums.
The high standards of the Iraqi academies should be maintained while scientific independence should be ensured and protected, he added.
It is vital to meet the national tasks, the President emphasized, and all parties should have adhered to the constitution.
However, the new parliament and the government which is going to be formed, will be extraordinary, and they have many tasks to be done, he said.
They came to power after early elections have been held when the Iraqis from all walks of life took to the streets to give voice to their frustration with the poor economy, give voice to their great hopes for better times, and believe in the need to make sweeping reforms and curb the corruption as well, he added.
Moreover, the urgent need to establish good governance through having a new political and social contract is an overriding imperative imposed by political and economic conditions and by regional and international developments was highlighted as well.
It is, therefore, national public opinion and political, academic, and social actors have to take part in formulating the contract, the President emphasized.
Over the past four decades, Iraq was unable to play its central role in the region due to its internal crises that undermined its stability and security, and have cast a shadow over the States of the region as well, he underscored.
Our collective efforts that are made in Iraq have brought significant achievements to bring back Iraq's leading role in the region, the Iraqi President stressed.
Meanwhile, Iraq adopted a national trajectory based on rejecting any steps by any country to settle scores on Iraq's soil or being turned into a battleground for other countries, he underlined, and and our country would be a point of cooperation and inclusion, rather than division, for all regional and international states.
The members of the visiting delegation briefed the president about the work of the universities, the various academic sectors, and the challenges faced by the country's education sector.
President Salih affirmed his support for all that would improve the work of education in Iraq and overcome the remaining obstacles faced by the education professionals and university students.
