State Council reviews quality in private higher education

MUSCAT: The Education and Research Committee of the State Council hosted Dr Jokha bint Abdullah al Shukaili, Chairperson of the Oman Authority for Quality Assurance of Education, to review a study titled ‘Efficiency of Management of Private Higher Education Institutions: Government Oversight and Self-Governance.’
The meeting was chaired by Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed al Sarmi, Head of the Education and Research Committee of the State Council, and attended by the members of the committee and Khalid bin Ahmed al Saadi, Secretary-General of the State Council.
During the meeting, the committee discussed several topics related to the quality assurance and academic accreditation system in private higher education institutions. It listened to the Authority’s views on the impact of regulations and legislation governing public and private higher education institutions on enhancing academic accreditation standards and improving the quality of institutional and programme performance over the past years.
The meeting also addressed the Authority’s role in ensuring the quality of outputs from private higher education institutions, the adequacy of legislation and laws regulating quality and governance within these institutions, and the mechanisms for monitoring their compliance with national standards and quality and academic accreditation requirements.
The Authority reviewed the most prominent challenges it faces in enhancing the impact of the quality and academic accreditation system on the performance of private higher education institutions, in addition to the opportunities available to develop regulatory and legislative frameworks to improve the outputs of higher education, and enhance the competitiveness of academic institutions at the local and international levels.
Meanwhile, the State Council’s Legal Committee discussed the Social and Cultural Committee’s report on the Unified Draft Law for the Management of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States, referred from the Council of Ministers.
The Committee reviewed the observations and views expressed by the Social and Cultural Committee regarding the draft law.
The draft law aims to strengthen the protection of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the associated traditional knowledge, and to regulate their exchange among GCC countries. The aim is to achieve the optimal use of these resources and preserve the associated rights, while also ensuring the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use.