Future Initiatives and Students Exchange with Spain Were Discussed by the Rector and the Education Counsellor at Spanish Embassy
The Counsellor for Educational Affairs at Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Bulgaria Mr. Angel Santamaria Barnola met with the Rector of UNWE Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov. The coordinator of the meeting was Prof. Dr. Daniela Koch-Kozhuharova - a Spaniard and former longstanding Head of UNWE Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics Department. As surprise the Education Counsellor was met by Spanish students studing at the UNWE.
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| Mr. Angel Santamaria Barnola and Prof. Dr. Daniela Koch-Kozhuharova (in the middle) with the Spanish students of UNWE |
It is the first visit by the Education Counsellor to our Alma Mater. During the meeting held in English a review of the cooperation was made and opportunities for future initiatives and exchange of students, lecturers and good practices were discussed.
Mr. Santamaria expressed his thankfulness for the hospitality, outlined the closeness between Bulgarians and Spanish as well as the high degree of integration of hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians in Spain pointing out that the Spanish educational service based in our country represents also the Kingdom in Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Romania and Moldova. He defined it as great opportunity to be organized an international forum at the UNWE to compare the results of distance and hybrid learning incorporated in higher and secondary schools during the Covid-19 crisis or the new technologies and he took on a commitment to provide attendance of Spanish speakers at the event.
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| The Rector (on the left) with Angel Santamaria |
Prof. Dimitrov addressed an invitation for signing of new bilateral agreements between the UNWE and Spanish universities under the auspices of the Spanish Embassy as well as for activation of the existing ones. He emphasized on the importance of the exchange on the Erasmus and Erasmus+ programmes. He outlined the opportunity to turn the current cooperation also in a bridge to the universities in Latin America. The Rector of UNWE supported Mr. Santamaria's proposal to launch dual degree programmes and shared the positive experience of his recent visit to Moscow.
Prof. Koch pointed out which Spanish universities have already concluded agreements of cooperation with the UNWE and shared the opportunity of concluding the first dual degree programme with the University of Granada emphasing on the increased interest in UNWE by Spanish students on the Erasmus programme.
After the meeting Mr. Angel Santamaria visited some of UNWE conference halls and Erasmus office and expressed his contentment with the visit.
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Angel Santamaria Barnola is an Education Counsellor at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Bulgaria. Teacher in Spanish language and literature. He has occupied various positions at the Spanish Ministry of Education in Australia, the United Kingdom and China. He has also led international relations in the cabinets of Spanish Education Ministers Mercedes Cabrera, Angel Gabilondo and Isabel Celaa. He is an author of several textbooks in Spanish language for foreigners.
