On Monday, October 19^th, 2015, the Faculty of Education and Teachers' Training at An-Najah held the 2^nd international scientific conference titled "Education in Palestine, Today's Challenges and the Future's Prospects" at the Zafer Al-Masri Auditorium in the Old Campus.

The conference aimed at setting a joint strategic plan on education that will link universities and educational institutions in Palestine such as the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education.

The conference shed light on a number of research papers on teaching and learning, educational guidance and teachers' training and curriculum, as well as measurement and assessing systems.

Dr. Alia Assali, Head of the Conference's Preparatory Committee and Dean of the Faculty of Education and Teachers' Training said that the faculty is working on rooting academic links with educational institutions through holding extracurricular activities.

She also confirmed that the faculty aspires to be a forum that is based on free speech, tolerance, freedom of expression and constructive criticism.

Dr. Mohammad El-Amleh, Vice President of Academic Affairs mentioned that An-Najah, along with the academic and social (cooperation within the community) fields, focuses on the field of scientific research. He added that the university holds such conferences to keep up with today's fast educational changes.

Professor Deborah Young from Colorado University and who is a participating expert in the Fulbright Specialist Programme of the International Office at An-Najah presented a paper on the topic of teachers' qualifications from a global point of view where she explained the importance of teachers as human beings and as role models to their students. She pointed out that teaching should be based on quality and cooperative philosophy at all levels.

In his turn, Dr. Louis Cristillo from the AMIDEAST Institute presented on the challenges that encounter teachers in Palestine where he stressed the importance of sustainable learning which aims at linking learning with real life. He also mentioned that teacher's professional development and sustainable teaching should be included in their rehabilitation programmes.

The conference resulted in a number of recommendations, namely reinforcing mutual cooperation among researchers in Palestinian universities and encouraging scientific research in fields of education. Participating researchers also recommended the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education hire well-qualified teachers regardless of their academic degree and hire more school counselors to smoothen the teaching-learning process.

Notes:

-         The conference was funded by the Charity Commission and the RAND Corporation.

-         The conference was also attended by Professor Imad Abdelhaq, Head of the Conference's Scientific Committee and a number of local and international researchers.