The “Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research” launched an initiative for the classification of licensed universities in the State, on the sidelines of the closing activities of the “QS-Maple” Conference and Exhibition, which was held under the patronage of his Excellency Sheikh “Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan”, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, on Tuesday, (6th) of May, for two days, which was organized by “Abu Dhabi Education Council” and “Khalifa University”, in order to raise the level of higher education output, and provide opportunities for scientific research and innovation in “Abu Dhabi”.
His Excellency Sheikh “Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan”, on the sidelines of the opening of the “QS-Maple” Conference, confirmed that this initiative, which is first of its kind in the Arab World, is in response to the directives of the “Cabinet of Ministers” with regard to ensuring transparency and quality of performance in the federal and non-federal higher education institutions, which are licensed by the “Commission for Academic Accreditation” of the Ministry, pointing out that this initiative is based on (7) fundamental areas for classification, through which the performance of each educational institution in the following fields is assessed, including: research performance, quality of teaching, students achievements, international relations, the role of the educational institution in promoting the national interest, the institutional resources, and the scientific and academic reputation of the institution.
His Excellency also pointed out that the higher education institutions in the State and the region have a big role in building a knowledge base that enables the human resources to keep pace with the challenges of times, ensuring that the Ministry took the initiative and moved in this direction, and it launched the “Commission for Academic Accreditation” (14) years ago, the Commission is responsible for supporting the mechanisms of promoting quality in the licensed higher education institutions, and the UAE succeeded in becoming a distinguished center in higher education over the last decade, which reflects the attention paid by the wise leadership to prepare an educational environment as per the international standards.
The sponsorship of this Conference by the Ministry is a result of its belief that the outcomes and discussions will produce new ideas of cooperation between the educational institutions, which will help them in the challenges they face, in order to guarantee the implementation of higher education programs of high quality, so as to be distinguished locally and internationally.
The Conference included parallel and general discussion sessions, general and private aspects of the international higher education with keynote speeches by the higher education pioneers, a quaternary discussion featuring exciting interactive participation of a number of academics to delve in the higher education practices and the (QS) exhibition, showcasing of the programs of the universities and higher education institutions from around the world, and the innovation awards granted for the best efforts exerted in the development of international education in four categories.
This Conference is considered an opportunity for the distinguished specialists and experts in the higher education field, which brought together more than (300) participants from all over the world, academics and administrators in the higher education field, including chancellors of universities, and other university leaders, strategists, and senior administrators in universities with its various sections, including foreign or global relations, admission and registration, student services, curriculum developers and academics who have international relations, and international relations officials at the Ministry of Education and others.
