Delegation of the Republic of Uganda paid an official visit to PSU

Olwa Johnson Agara, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uganda to the Russian Federation, Rutazindwa Mwebase Gideon, Counsellor Ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic, and Okodi Suzan, Counsellor of the Embassy, began their acquaintance with Penza State University by visiting the museum of its history.

The stands with alumni - space explorers V.I.Patsaev and A.M. Samokutyaev – aroused great interest of the guests.

The Ambassador noted that the Republic of Uganda respects Soviet and Russian cosmonauts. They especially honour the name of Yu. A. Gagarin, and there are streets in the Republic which were named after him.

Olwa Johnson Agara emphasized the special importance of the work on preserving the history of the Penza region, which is being carried out in the region and at the university.

During the meeting with Rector Aleksandr Guliakov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs Gleb Sintsov and other employees of PSU, representatives of Uganda discussed issues of bilateral cooperation in the field of education and science.

Aleksandr Guliakov spoke about the aspects of the university international activities, noting that today 2100 international students from 47 countries of the world study at Penza State University. “Currently, our university has 18 students from eight African countries. These are Benin, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Mali, Nigeria, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania,” said the Rector and expressed hope that soon the list of the countries will also include students from the Republic of Uganda.

The initiative of A.D. Guliakov to expand the boundaries of international cooperation between the two countries was also supported by the Ambassador. Mr. Olwa recalled the fact that Russia and Uganda have long-term friendly relations. “We established relations with your country back in 1962. For almost 60 years, cooperation has developed in various fields. The long history of relations between Russia and Africa has always been built on the mutual assistance and support that our countries received. During the formation of the independence of the Republic of Uganda, the USSR provided great support. Students from Uganda studied in the Soviet Union. Many of them are now in key positions,” said Olwa Johnson Agara.

One of the graduates of the Russian university is Mr. Rutazindva, who was also present at the meeting. “Russia is a developed country, we would like to cooperate and be friends with your state, including in the sphere of education. We consider Russian universities to be ones of the best,” added the Ambassador of Uganda.

The parties discussed how to attract Ugandan students to study at Penza State University and what career guidance work should be based on.

“Now 100 students from our country are studying in Russia. I think that we need to move to another level and other, higher indicators,” Mr. Olwa outlined the prospects for cooperation.

Today, 50 universities operate on the territory of the Republic of Uganda, of which 10 are state-owned. The official guests expressed interest in developing partnerships between PSU and universities in Uganda, including through joint research programmes.

At the end of the official meeting, the members of the delegation left their comments in the Book of Honoured Guests.