The Faculty of Specific Education, Aswan University, organized an educational symposium entitled “The Role of Music Education in Forming a National Sense among Community Members” under the patronage of Major General. Ashraf Attia, Governor of Aswan, and Prof. Ayman Mahmoud Othman, President of Aswan University, and in the presence of His Grace Bishop Bishoy, Bishop of Aswan, Kom Ombo and Edfu, Prof. Loai Saad El-Deen Nasrat, Vice President of the University for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Mohamed Rashed, Dean of the Faculty, and the Community Service and Environment Development Sector at the Faculty. The symposium was lectured by Prof. Amira Sayed, former Dean of the Faculty of Music Education, Helwan University, and Prof. Sherin Abdel-Latif, Dean of the Faculty of Music Education, Helwan University. The symposium included an introductory lecture on the presidential initiative “Decent Life”, which was given by the Coordinator of Decent Life in Aswan Governorate.
The ceremony began with the national anthem, followed by a major artistic celebration performed by the Faculty’s Music Education Choir, led by Prof. Mohamed Rashed, Dean of the Faculty. Prof. Ayman Othman stressed in his speech the importance of the role of the Decent Life Foundation at the level of the Republic, and the sincere efforts it exerts to provide a decent and safe life for the Egyptian citizen at all levels at the level of the Republic, and that the Decent Life initiative began with an idea based on the dreams of Egyptian youth to prepare a comprehensive development plan to create a sustainable decent life for the most needy groups by preparing a field studies plan and monitoring the needs of the most needy families and villages and identifying the natural resources and investment opportunities available to use them in the best way under the directives of the political leadership to build the new republic.
Prof. Loai Saad El-Deen pointed out the importance of this introductory symposium, which comes within the framework of a series of awareness symposiums organized by the Decent Life Foundation inside universities in all governorates of the Republic to spread the values of volunteer work and community service among university youth within the framework of the presidential initiative “Decent Life” as it is the greatest development project in the history of modern Egypt, which works to raise sustainable development, which is an icon of the new republic in building the contemporary Egyptian person.
Prof. Amira Sayed, former Dean of Faculty of Music Education, Helwan University, discussed during the symposium the role of music, which has the ability to address the mind and conscience of the individual and influence the feelings and emotions of society through its ability to unify feelings and emotions that raise the human spirit through national melodies that enhance belonging to the homeland.
Prof. Sherin Abdel-Latif, Dean of Faculty of Music Education, Helwan University, also mentioned during the lecture she gave at the symposium that national music and songs have become one of the most important components of building, educating and refining peoples, because they represent a sublime message to the individual and society, especially in light of societies enjoying a degree of culture and civilized advancement. Sherin Abdel-Latif also expressed her happiness to participate in this symposium organized by Faculty of Specific Education, Aswan University.
Prof. Mohamed Rashed explained the efforts of the students and the Faculty choir in the artistic show that he presented through the national songs that had a great impact on the souls of Egyptians, which were sung by the great late artists and singers such as Abdel-Halim Hafez in the song “The Story of a People” and Umm Kulthum in her national songs and the extent of their impact in shaping the conscience of citizens in the various crises that Egypt went through in modern history.
Dr. Mohamed Salah – General Coordinator of the Decent Life Initiative in the governorate – praised the state’s achievements represented in the major national projects that serve the community to face challenges over the past eight years and its journey in supporting the most needy villages, noting that the university seeks to enhance the efforts of volunteer work for university youth through the field visits for students to see what has been accomplished from national projects for the Decent Life Foundation so that the foundation is a model to be emulated in the field of volunteer work as an effective force that participates in achieving the goals of sustainable development in the new republic on the land of the capital of youth, culture, economy and arts in the African continent.
On the sidelines of the symposium, the university president and the attendees witnessed the discussion of the first master’s thesis in the Department of Music Education submitted by researcher Catherin Nashat Attito entitled “Deriving exercises inspired by some of Mounir Murad’s melodies and benefiting from them in teaching the oud to the specialized student”, and the jury and discussion committee awarded the researcher a master’s degree with distinction.
At the end of the symposium, Prof. Ayman Othman, the university vice president, and the dean of the Faculty honored the distinguished students in the Faculty and those who participated in the artistic show and in the Decent Life Initiative in the governorate.
