His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, on Monday, March 2nd, 2015, presided over the third meeting of the Coordinating Council for Higher Education and Scientific Research, which was held at the Ministry’s headquarters to discuss several issues and make decisions. The Council recommended with regard to the civil service program that the higher education institutions in the State should modify the admission policy for graduates of the national service program, by equalizing them with the high school graduates in the same year, and they should abide to that starting the beginning of the academic year 2015-2016.
The decision should be circulated to government universities and consider them category 1, and to private universities and giving them priority. With regard to the problem of scholarship students who exceeded the percentage of non-conventional hours within the degree that requires equivalency, the Council recommended to send the proposal to the universities for review and opinion.
The Council also recommended the cancelation of the decision on the new grades ladder in Higher Colleges of Technology, and the adoption of the cancellation decision to be activated starting the academic year 2015-2016, and to be circulated to students before the beginning of the academic year.
The meeting of the Council was attended by Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development, President of Zayed University, His Excellency Mohammad Omran Al Shamsi, Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology, His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Al-Mughrabi, Director of Studies and Research Sector of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, His Excellency Dr. Saeed Al Hassani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, His Excellency Dr. Ali Al Noaimi, Vice Chancellor of the UAE University, and His Excellency Dr. Tayeb Kamali, Vice Chancellor of Higher Colleges of Technology, Dr. Riad Al Muhaidib, Vice President of Zayed University, Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, His Excellency Dr. Ghaleb Awad Al Rifai, and His Excellency Dr. Hamza Kazim, Vice-President of Masdar Institute. The Council also hosted Professor Mohamed Albaili, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UAE University, and Ms. Yomna Badwah, Director of NAPO at UAE University. The Council also recommended the development of an action plan for the proposed project of competitiveness indicators for higher education and scientific research, and the formation of a committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Abdullah Al Mughrabi, and the membership of Professor Mohamed Albaili, Dr. Riad Al Muhaidib, Yomna Badwah, and Mariam Al Al, to review draft reports of the Council teams to submit its recommendations to the Chairman of the Council