In the 8th and 9th issues of the magazine, we wrote about the history and prospects of the first Russian university in the UAE, opened in the Dubai “Knowledge Village”. This publication caused so many responses that we decided to pay attention again to the rapidly developing branch of the St. Petersburg State Engineering
University of Economics.
First-year full-time students of the University first sat at their desks in mid-September 2005. In total, 62 students study here, who came to the Emirates from the CIS countries, and also part-time students who recently held the first installation session.
A significant event this fall was the arrival of the teaching delegation from St. Petersburg, headed by the rector of Inzhekon, Professor A. I. Mikhaylushkin. He solemnly handed student cards to freshmen and announced at a press conference that he was going to provide the Dubai branch of his university with the most serious support.
We decided to find out in detail how students live “breathing foreign lands” by interviewing one of the first-year students.
- How do you get to class?
- The university provides us with a bus. True, you have to get up early, especially to those who live in Sharjah.
- And how do you eat? Is there enough time between lectures?
- Yes, the Knowledge Village has everything you need for life - cafes, hairdressers, and car rental offices. There’s enough time for everything, if desired. In addition, 35 computers connected to the Internet are installed in our "uni", a library has recently opened.
“What time is she working?” What documents are needed to register in it?
- The library is open on weekdays, from 9.00 to 19.00. It has more than 5000 books, all of them in Russian. To use the subscription, you need to pay 50 dirhams for registration and 20 dirhams of deposit for each book taken.
- Do you like the training program? Is it too hard?
- Not so simple. Teachers demand a lot, especially when you consider that not all of us are fluent in Russian. You immediately feel that you are no longer at school. And there is much less free time left. But even when it is, you do not always know where to go: everything around is so unfamiliar ...
- There is no desire to drop everything and come back? Is it really impossible to get higher education in your home? Perhaps it would have been cheaper.
- For me, life in the Emirates does not come down to a simple scheme: I paid for my studies and received a diploma. This opens up prospects that, in my opinion, are not in my hometown. This is if we talk about the distant future. At the moment, I like to feel like I am gradually discovering a new world that does not look like anything. It seems to me that the unique experience of living in a foreign country, which is being acquired here, justifies any difficulties.
While we were talking with students, Injekon’s leadership met with future graduates of Russian schools in Dubai and Sharjah, telling them about their intentions. In the near future, preparatory courses for new applicants will open at the university, teaching of the Russian language as a foreign language will begin. Now, students whose native language is Kazakh or Uzbek will not have to blush because of their mistakes in dictation. It is also planned to build new educational buildings and dormitories for students, who can get up later.
The editors thank everyone for the feedback left on the forum site www.emirat.ru. Send us new questions, and we will try to answer the most interesting of them, covering the events taking place in the first Russian university in the UAE.
