The “Fourth
International Arab Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education 2014"
was recently concluded , it was held in the "Zarqa University" in
"Jordan", in cooperation with the "Association
of Arab Universities" and aims to develop
an understanding of integrated quality performance of Arab universities,
highlighting the mechanisms of upgrading them,
along with the interest in the development of accreditation and licensing
requirements for Arab universities and to overcome challenges of applying the
concepts of total quality management in our Arab University, in addition to the
transfer of Arab and foreign experiences to use them in our educational
institutions.
The Conference, held
over three days, discussed (99) researches out of (260) researches submitted to the
Conference, discussed in nine sessions, with the participation of (16) Arab and
foreign countries, included a number of axes on the quality of e-learning, quality
assurance of academic programs, Arab and international experience in quality
assurance, quality assurance of scientific research and higher education,
standards of quality of health services, quality management, and strategic
planning.
Given the
significant challenges of globalization and the open education facing higher
education in the Arab world, the "Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research" in the UAE under the guidance of his Excellency
Sheikh “Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan”, spared no effort in continuous
communication through the distribution of a questionnaire to its clients, to
find out their needs and measure their level of satisfaction to assess the
quality of services provided by different departments, for the Ministry to
aspire to excellence in delivering its services to contribute to the
realization of the “UAE vision 2021”.
Participants
recommended at the end of the Conference to establish an independent body for
accreditation at the level of the Arab world, working to create the appropriate
environment for the application of quality standards to reform institutions of
higher education in the Arab world, according to international standards, and
the establishment of a body for the classification of universities, to institutions
of higher education on the local and Arab levels, and the intensification of
the activities of universities on the Internet by building a scientific and
technical base for e-books, employing modern specialized systems and programs, disseminating
the culture of e-learning, and providing advanced technologies and software in
University courses.
And the adoption of
strategic planning in higher education institutions, in accordance with specific
criteria and indicators, and to develop open education programs in institutions
of higher education in the Arab world, and their consolidated in accordance with the criteria and
indicators of the "Commission of Academic Accreditation" and
performance indicators, and to pay adequate attention to classroom activities and extracurricular
activities of higher education institutions, for the development of various
aspects of the student's personality (quality standards), for universities to research the teaching
role, at different levels, to the requirements and development of Arab
societies, and increased the financial allocations for this purpose, in
addition to linking academic programs at universities with the needs of the
community, to achieve the social responsibility of universities.
So the idea emerged
for the establishment of an arbitrated international Arab scientific conference
specializing in the quality of higher education, held annually at an Arab
University, where Arab and foreign researchers and specialists meet to discuss
the axes of this important field, in light of globalization and openness, and
since it is necessary to give it due importance in our educational
institutions, it was decided that the Conference for the year (2015) will be at
the “University of Sharjah”.
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