Seef District – QQA:
A Review Panel of the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) concluded a quality review of the QQA’s strategies, operations, procedures and organizational structure to determine its compliance with the Guidelines of Good Practice (GGP) adopted by the Network.
The Review Panel held interview sessions in the period from the third to the fifth of March 2015 with the QQA Board Chairman, Board Members and Chief Executive as well as a number of QQA Directors and staff members. It also held interview sessions with the QQA key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Labour, Higher Education Council, EDB, Tamkeen, Ministry of Education, a number of public and private education and training institutions and students across the Kingdom.
On this occasion, Dr. Jawaher Al Mudhahki, QQA CE said: “QQA took part in an external quality review by a specialist international body in this field in line with the reviews it periodically conducts to the Kingdom’s education and training institutions to stress its values of transparency, credibility and professionalism.”
“This review was an opportunity to evaluate ourselves by being reviewed by INQAAHE; a high-profile international body specialized in conducting the external quality reviews. QQA hopes that this review will enhance its status and the Bahrain’s QA Model regionally and internationally,” she added.
The external quality Review Panel carried out its tasks based on the QQA’s self-evaluation report submitted to the Network in November 2014, where the review was conducted in accordance with the applicable practices in this field.
Based on the Review Panel’s findings, and the interview sessions conducted at the QQA, a final evaluation report will be prepared. The Report will provide a judgement on the extent to which QQA complies with the Guidelines of Good Practice (GGP) adopted by this Network and will include a number of suggestions for improvement, with the intention to support the QQA’s efforts aimed at enhancing its impact and credibility in the national, regional and international context.
The external quality Review Panel members were Dr. Fiona Crozier, Director of Quality, University College, Ireland; Prof. Abdulla Al Mussalam, Secretary General, National Commission of Academic Accreditation & Assessment (NCAAA), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dr. Maciej Markowski, International Policy Advisor, Polish Accreditation Committee, Poland.
The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) was established in 1991 with only 8 members. Today the total membership exceeds 250 members of which 14 members form its Board of Directors and represent 14 quality assurance agencies in higher education all over the world.
