The University President, Professor Rami Hamdallah, gave a press conference today through the Palestinian Ministry of Information's "Meet an Official" program.   After being introduced by Mr. Majid Katani from the Ministry of Information, President Hamdallah took the floor to speak about the recent developments at An-Najah National University.

With over 18,000 students, 69 BA programs, 39 MA programs and 1 PhD program in Chemistry, An-Najah is the largest university in Palestine in terms of academic programs.  "Over the last academic year, An-Najah has achieved some impressive successes and achievements," Prof. Hamdallah said.

President Hamdallah explained the current accreditation of the Faculty of Physical Education and the project for the construction of a teaching hospital.  The hospital's mission will be twofold: to teach An-Najah medical students the skills necessary to be highly trained physicians and to provide much needed medical services to the local community.

The economic problems effect not only the students but the staff who are not good paid compared to their counterparts in neighboring countries.  An-Najah is currently working on a program to improve their benefits packages to secure increased financial incentives for the University's staff.“Our University has programs that are regarded as among the best in the region,” President Hamdallah noted,

“At least 10,000 undergraduate applications to the University this year which signal clearly that the University has become a more important national academic institution,” President Hamdallah said.

“We continue too build on our extraordinary strengths, of which the quality of our faculty is the most consequential.  The University includes some of the most outstanding scholars and teachers in the nation.”

“An-Najah won several national and international awards and these and many other achievements are the direct result of the talent and hard work of our faculty,” President Hamdallah added.

The Sport Complex at the Nablus is nearing completion of an ambitious plan that will address the development of sport in the area.

“Our future as one of the nation's leading public universities in Palestine depends on the caliber of faculty in different disciplines, and the breadth and impact of their research programs; it also depends on the caliber of our students, and our success in training them for prominent research or professional positions,” President Hamdallah noted.