Dubai, March 29, 2008 - The University Quality Assurance International Board (UQAIB) of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has wrapped up its initial visit to Dubai and the institutions of higher learning located in Dubai’s Free Zone.
This board’s primary mandate is to support KHDA’s licensing of those institutions by verifying that, as branches of respectable foreign-accredited colleges and universities, the Dubai branch is fully in compliance with the standards and practices of the home-based campus.
Not to be confused with accreditation, UQAIB will provide an audit of quality in higher education in Dubai. Students and the public can then be assured that the quality on offer from international institutions here is commensurate with the degree-issuing parent institution.
The Board hails from a wide variety of international higher education quality institutions and has extensive experience in the issues of assuring the quality of academic programs.
This first visit, which concluded with a briefing at The Executive Council for His Excellency Ahmed Bin Byat, Secretary General of the Executive Council and Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, involved extensive consultation between members of the Board, various institutions of higher education in the free zones, and executives at the KHDA.
The Board will return to Dubai in September, by which time procedures will be in place which will identify the indicators by which the quality of an institution is to be assessed, and for how they will conduct equivalency between institutions here and their home campuses.
Dr. Ruth Moir, Head of the Dubai Campus of Scotland’s renowned Heriot Watt University, said: “I was pleased with the experience and approach of the UQUAIB members we met with.
”Their ability to rapidly verify the links between our Dubai programs and the mothership back in Scotland and our fidelity to the Heriot Watt education on offer back home assures not only the public that we are genuinely providing the same quality here but also provides an additional and welcome form of reassurance and support to us that we are on the right track. We welcome their input and feedback on how we’re doing.”
Dr. Martin Carroll, a founding member of the Board, concurred with Dr. Moir, adding, “We want to bring assurance that the institutions located in the Free Zones are offering the same, and why not better, quality that the home campuses of these branches do.“