Tempus Lebanon: Higher Education better adapted to today’s challenges

With Tempus, the Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies, Lebanon integrated a wide range of joint projects. Since 2004, Tempus Lebanon is working on upgrading the level of students in conformity with current academic norms to facilitate their integration in the labor market.

Diala Gemayel - Beirut, Eurojar

“This programme concerns Lebanon in three major points, explains Aref Al-Sioufi, national coordinator of Tempus. First, it is responding to the problem of rapid growth that the sector has recently registered. Second, it is essential for quality control, an issue that Lebanese universities began to consider as a priority for their development process. Third, the programme is vital for harmonization, an issue that the educational actors cannot ignore anymore, with all its repercussions on the mobility of students, the equivalence of diplomas, as well as the establishment of a national framework for professional certification. On the other hand, a number of Lebanese institutions undertook important measures following the Bologna process (aiming at establishing a European Higher Education Area by 2010), namely in the matter of the LMD system (Licence-Master-Doctorat), as well as the issue of credits and Quality Assurance.”



The mechanical engineering Department at the American University of Beirut (AUB) just implemented the joint European project Innovative Curriculum on Sustainable Energy (ICOSE). “It aims at introducing and reinforcing education in the field of renewable energy as well as energy consumption in buildings, while establishing links with the Faculty of Economy”, says Nisrine Ghaddar, a responsible at the university. Future graduates may be able to respond to the needs of the Lebanese labor market in the field of sustainable energy to reach a cleaner production of energy and more efficient energy practices.”

Training in the field of renewable energies
Few months after the beginning of courses in premises well equipped with high performance laboratories, a positive impression is prevailing:”Next January, our 14 students –graduates and professional engineers- will attend two-week intensive courses in Sweden in two partner institutions. Four teachers from the universities of Bora and Lund are expected to arrive to the AUB, while other technical teams of AUB, Beirut Arab University and the Lebanese University will go to Lund and Malmö to get a certification in the field of renewable energies and energy rationalization.”

In 2004, Masters in Food, Science and Technology began to take shape during the workshop entitled “Building a partnership between higher education and industry”, organized by members of the University of Balamand. “Food-industry turned out to be one of the most important sectors in the country. It deserves a reinforced educational attention, explains professor Chafik Mokbel, who actively participated in the elaboration of the Masters program. Three years later, and with the support of the Ministry of Industry, a team was formed to work on the project. This team consisted of representatives from the universities of Valenciennes, Greenwich and Balamand, with the collaboration of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI). In spring 2009, President of the Campus, Elie Salem, officially launched the program, and courses began this fall (2009-2010), with 7 students. With the support of tempus and the Association of Lebanese Industrialists, the Masters Program benefits today from two specialized laboratories.”

The future seems to be promising:”The Masters curriculum is exceptional due to its working environment and its multidisciplinary character. Teachers, technicians and future graduates appreciate inter-university exchanges which open for them new European horizons, notes Chafik Mokbel. It is worth noting that this program introduced the American credit system into non-American universities, which facilitated the equivalence of diplomas between different institutions.”

Check the website: Tempus - Lebanon