Friday, Jul 03, 2009
Gulf News
Manama: Officials from the universities accused by the Higher Education Council of failing to meet the required standards have had mixed reactions to the unprecedented decision by the education minister to name and shame them in the media.
The council said in a statement to the media that the failing universities were given a two-month grace period to regularise their situation before they could face tougher measures.
The official crackdown came two weeks after the education ministry in Kuwait said that it would not recognise diplomas from six private universities in Bahrain.
"Obviously, there has been an unfortunate misunderstanding between our university and the council regarding our Islamic fin-ancing programme to be offered in partnership with the Islamic University in Malaysia, but we are sure it will be solved soon," Shaikh Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the executive head for administrative and financial affairs at the University College of Bahrain, said.
The university was asked to freeze the course until it received proper endorsement from the Council. "We do welcome the strong move by the council to address deficiencies for the sake of better education," he said.
However, Mona Al Zayani, president of Gulf University, contested the council's classification of her university, saying that it was an "irresponsible attitude based on erroneous assumptions".
"The university has successfully undergone quality tests and the council's judgement did not have the required level of responsibility and rationality," she said.
"The council's report should not have been made public and should have been strictly between the council and the universities in order to avoid negative repercussions on the students.
"I wonder where the council has been for the last nine years, especially that the minister himself patronised the graduation of students from the contested courses," she said.
For Abdullah Al Hawwaj, the president of Al Ahliya University, the council's reprimand resulted from confusion in the computation of the numbers of full-time teachers.
"We will provide the correct numbers to the council and we are confident that the genuine status of the university will be clear to all," he said.
"I have no doubts about the good intention of those overseeing higher education in Bahrain, and we will, at our university, remain fully committed to the highest standards," he said.
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
