Thousands of Sierra Leonean students have received higher education in the Soviet Union and Russia. Upon their return, have applied their knowledge to the development of the West African nation, Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Technical and Higher Education of the Republic of Sierra Leone, told Sputnik Africa.
"We have got thousands of students who have already benefited, have gone back and have contributed the knowledge and the insights that they have acquired while studying in Russia. They have been able to apply that in Sierra Leone and contributed immensely to national development," the minister noted.
According to her, Russian education is "very attractive" to Sierra Leone because in addition to giving young people the skills they need to thrive in technical industries, it also provides an opportunity to be "well-rounded in terms of experiencing what the culture is like in other parts of the world."
The Minister noted that Sierra Leone and Russia already have an agreement to educate students from the West African country in Russian universities, especially in the field of medicine. Ramatulai Wurie also expressed the hope that a new agreement, strengthening the previous one, would be signed during the Conference "Africa’s Path to 17 SDGs: Integrated Approach" hosted by the People's Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) on November 21-24.
The conference, which the minister traveled to Russia to attend, is a platform to share knowledge with all stakeholders working on the same issues, she said.
"You can also learn from their [stakeholders'] opportunities, their experiences, their embedded insights, and see what could be applicable in your context. It creates that knowledge sharing platform all geared towards working towards this universal goal of achieving the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]," Ramatulai Wurie opined.
Noting that sustainability means investment protection, the minister said that Russia and Sierra Leone are interested in continuing to work on sustainable solutions.
"We look forward to continued partnership. I think there's mutual benefits for both parties and working together would ensure that we bring all of our resources on the table, we work in a way that is concerted, we identify and co-create solutions together in a way that is sustainable," she stressed.
Ramatulai Wurie concluded that the West African country's government "deeply appreciates" the equal partnership with the Soviet Union and Russia for more than 60 years, which has "contributed" to its development agenda.
A group of students of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University from Sierra Leone on the embankment near the Moscow Kremlin, 1963 year
© Sputnik . Vladimir Minkevich
In early November, the Russian cooperation agency Rossotrudnichestvo held a forum of Russian university graduates in Tanzania's Dar es Salaam, which gathered more than 150 participants, mostly from African countries, to focus on the development of relations between Russian and foreign educational organizations.
Pavel Shevtsov, deputy head of Rossotrudnichestvo, told Sputnik Africa that the main goal of the forum was to show that Russia values graduates of Soviet and Russian universities who share Moscow's vision of the present and future.