First Exhibition of Russian Universities Held in Tunis

The first educational exhibition of Russian universities has been held in Tunisia, a Sputnik correspondent has reported.

Representatives of almost two dozen leading universities from Russia came to the exhibition "Education in Russia for Tunisia 2023". The events were held in the capital of the country – Tunis – as well as the country's second-largest city – Sfax.

"During the period of existence of Rossotrudnichestvo representation office, which has been operating in Tunisia for over 50 years, this is the first such event, the first educational exhibition. We see great interest and are absolutely sure that this event will not be the last, that it will be a serious annual tradition," Yuri Zaitsev, head of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Tunis (Russian House) said.

According to Zaitsev, young Tunisians are also interested in the exhibition because Russian is taught in state lyceums in this country.

"Russian is the official language of additional education in Tunisian lyceums, there is no such thing anywhere else in Africa. Lyceum students can choose Russian as an additional language of education. They can then decide and go to study at Russian universities, having received a language training," he said.

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He also noted the growth of quotas for studying in Russian universities for Tunisian citizens.

"This year there are 60 quotas, but I think that after the first selection it is possible to increase the number of free places to study in Russian universities under the Russian government program, we hope that this year about a hundred students from Tunisia will be able to go to study in Russia," Zaitsev noted.

Apart from Tunis, a similar exhibition was held in Tanzania's capital Dar es Salaam on November 9-10, where Tanzanian university applicants got acquainted with leading Russian universities, the agency said.

As for other events in the African countries in the field of educational cooperation, in early November, the agency organized a two-day Forum of Alumni of Soviet and Russian Universities in Dar es Salaam, uniting over 150 participants, mostly from African nations, to discuss the development of international ties in education, the agency revealed.