- 'Today's meeting is the opening of a dialogue with the South African government. I hope that at the end of my four-year term, your universities will be attended by students from our country,' - said the South African Ambassador in Poland, Ms Nomvule Mngomezulu during the meeting at the University of Gdańsk.
On November 19, representatives of the Association of Fahrenheit Universities presented Ambassador Nomvule Mngomezulu - the competencies of Gdańsk universities on the education of South Africans. South Africa has almost 2,500 km of sea lines and is looking for an education programme that would strengthen the country's maritime economy.
The offer presented by the universities included not only the engineering studies of the Gdańsk University of Technology but also a preliminary draft of an inter-university course. Representatives of the University of Gdańsk and the Medical University of Gdańsk showed that the development of the maritime economy requires, among other things, medical, economic and legal competencies.
- 'It should be noted that Fahrenheit Union will be much higher in the rankings of Polish and international universities. According to estimates, we are ranked third among universities in Poland,' - said FarU Director, prof. Adriana Zaleska-Medynska, while presenting the achievements of each university.
After a brief introduction, prof. Janusz Nieznański, PG Vice-Rector for Internationalisation and Innovation, presented the University's competencies in the field of maritime technology. - 'We boast very unique laboratory equipment. These include a 40-meter swimming pool, which can produce regular and irregular waves, and test models of a tanker, a trawler and a yacht,' - said, prof. Nieznański. He also noted that for many years the Gdańsk University of Technology has been educating students from Albania, Algeria, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, Nigeria, Hungary and the United Kingdom.
- 'You are probably surprised that a representative of the Medical University of Gdańsk is at the meeting to organise a course related to the maritime economy,' - began prof. Michał Markuszewski, Vice-Rector for Science of the Medical University of Gdańsk. - 'However, the Department of Tropical Parasitology is part of our University. We also have many courses in English.' - he added.
One of the main topics of discussion between representatives of GUMed and the South African ambassador was the Maritime Telemedicine Assistance Service. - 'The Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine offers a service that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Captains of ships in the Baltic Sea can call us to receive instructions on how to treat a sick crew member. Such a call should be answered by well-trained doctors who can answer all the questions asked by those without medical training. We would be happy to share the knowledge and experience needed to run such a service,' - said, prof. Maciej Grzybek from the Department of Tropical Parasitology. Ambassador Nomvule Mngomezulu noted that these are aspects that are not always obvious, but necessary for the development of the maritime economy.
The didactic offer of UG was presented by prof. Anna Jurkowska Zeidler, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation: - 'We have many faculties at our University related to the maritime field. Firstly, the Faculty of Oceanography,' said prof. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, passing the floor to dr Ewa Szymczak, Vice Dean for Education at the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography: - 'Our studies are practical as well as theoretical. We are very well equipped to train students. One of our largest pieces of equipment is the R/V "Oceanograf", which is one of the best of its kind in Europe.'.
Then the Vice-Rector also presented the competencies of the Faculty of Law, Management, Biotechnology and Economics, and talked about the University's alliance with five other coastal universities within the SEA-EU project.
The comprehensive presentation of the educational offer positively surprised the South African Ambassador: - 'Thank you for this informative presentation. At first, I only considered the studies in shipbuilding, but now I see how complex the undertaking is - education for the maritime economy,' - said Ambassador Nomvule Mngomezulu.
The future of the educational offer for South African students will become clear next year when South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits Poland. The Ambassador announced that it is during this visit that discussions on the education of South African youth in Poland will take place. - 'I can assure you that today's meeting was successful. I believe that our President will certainly be satisfied with the educational offer of the Fahrenheit Universities.' - the Ambassador concluded the meeting.