DUSHANBE, April 21, 2011, Asia-Plus — On Wednesday April 20, Abdujabbor Rahmonov, Minister of Education of Tajikistan, and Dr. Paul McVeigh, Associate Vice President for Global Studies & Programs, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), signed here a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the Ministry of Education of Tajikistan and Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA).
Tajik minister noted after the document–signing ceremony that the memorandum aimed at supporting Tajik students to obtain technical education abroad. According to him, the sides will jointly take efforts to train skilled personnel for Tajikistan through developing intellectual and creative potential of youth and giving them an opportunity to study abroad.
Dr. McVeigh noted that more than 78,000 students of different nationalities were currently studying at Northern Virginia Community College.
The memorandum is signed for three years and the sides will reportedly consider ways of cooperation to encourage Tajik students who seek to further their education in the United States.
It is to be noted that similar memorandum was also signed between Northern Virginia Community College and the Center for International Programs at the Ministry of Education of Tajikistan.
Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) comprises several locations in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., and is both the second largest multi-campus community college in the United States and the largest educational institution in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The school offers a wide variety of courses, and encourages students to enroll in four-year colleges after completing their NOVA education.
NOVA is served by a library system extending across all six campuses and the Arlington Center. NOVA Libraries contain over 250,000 volumes and subscribe to over 200 databases, many of these purchased through the Virtual Library of Virginia, meaning that NOVA has access to many of the same resources as the other colleges and universities in Virginia.
NOVA is part of the Virginia Community College System. Northern Virginia Community College was established in 1964 under the name Northern Virginia Technical College. In the fall of 1965, the College opened with 761 students in a single building in Bailey”s Crossroads under President Robert L. McKee. To accommodate an ever-growing student body, the college purchased 320,000 m2 in Annandale in 1966 to create the first of six permanent campus sites.
