Maysam Ali reports on the launch of an international board that will monitor international universities and colleges in Dubai's free zones.
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) last week launched the Universal Quality Assurance International Board (UQAIB), which aims to ensure the academic quality of international higher education institutions in Dubai's free zones.
The board comprises nine members – academics from around the world — and it will monitor international institutions to make sure they conform to global standards.
Announcing the formation of the board, Warren Fox, Executive Director of Higher Education at the Dubai KHDA, and chairman of the board, said: "The board will meet two to three times per year, review information about colleges and universities and make recommendations to the KHDA to improve the quality of education."
Human capital: Dubai's best asset
Abdullah Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the KHDA, said that the formation of the board falls in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, which stipulates that there can be no economic prosperity in the UAE without development in education.
"Dubai has gone through tremendous changes. There has been great economic progress coupled with vast development of infrastructure. But the most important asset is developing human capital. By 2015, Dubai will have 50,000 graduates compared to 22,000 today. We have to ensure that we have the right quantity and quality of graduates," Al Karam said.
In order to attract students, the UAE must attract institutions, Al Karam said. "For that, we need the Universal Quality Assurance International Board to support the public and private sectors and the workforce plan."
What will the board do?
UQAIB will review all licensing applications of higher education institutions in Dubai's free zones and make recommendations to the Director of Licensing at the KHDA on accepting or rejecting them. It will approve the programmes of the institutions and form inspection committees to monitor the quality of their education.
The board will also advise the KHDA on international trends and developments in higher education quality management.
Its tasks do not include granting accreditation to colleges and institutions that lack accreditation. Rather, the board will ensure that the standards of the academic programmes at the branch campus are equivalent to those at the home campus.
"We want to ensure the same level of faculty, kinds of courses and other facilities for the students," Fox told Notes.
Martin Carroll, Consulting Director for the Oman Accreditation Council and member of UQAIB, said that the board will rely on quality assessment agencies from home countries. Because some countries don't have such agencies, the board will play the role of confirming trans-national equivalence of programmes between university campuses, taking into consideration cultural and other differences between the countries.
Carroll stressed the importance that the administration of home campuses has to play in the process. "The primary obligation rests with the university," he said. "Senior academic managers in home countries must be actively involved in what's going on here."
UQAIB will also set up a grievance procedure for parents, students and staff and will make inspections of the institutions periodically if necessary.
Why study in Dubai?
According to Fox, Dubai is a growing city with a lot to offer students; its universities have various programmes of interest to students.
Carroll said that high academic standards and the security that the emirate offers should motivate faculty to come here.
Increasing demand for education
There is growing demand for students and institutions in Dubai, said Fox. "Dubai wants and needs thousands of educated students." At the same time, universities from Scotland, Australia, India, Pakistan, the US and the UK are looking into opening branches in the country."
Carroll agreed: "Dubai's international nature makes the existence of such a board necessary to monitor the quality of education students receive," he said.
What is the KHDA?
The Knowledge and Human Development Authority was established in 2006 under the directive of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Its aim is to develop all knowledge and human resource sectors in Dubai according to international standards, while keeping in mind the needs of the work place.
By Maysam Ali