Manama: As part of the Kingdom of Bahrain's presidency of the 46th session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr. Diana Abdulkarim Al Jahromi, Secretary General of the Higher Education Council, chaired the 17th meeting of the Supervisory Committee of the GCC Higher Education Quality Assurance Network. The meeting saw participation from representatives of GCC member states and the Head of the Human and Environment Affairs Sector at the GCC General Secretariat.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the committee reviewed several initiatives aimed at advancing higher education quality assurance across the GCC and strengthening cooperation and the exchange of expertise among member states. Discussions were held on the executive programme for the GCC Higher Education Quality Assurance Network's 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, the draft GCC Guiding Standards for Academic Accreditation, and a concept paper on a proposed GCC framework for micro-credentials.
Further, the meeting also reviewed a proposal to organise a conference on global university rankings for GCC higher education institutions, based on recommendations from the previous technical consultative meeting on international rankings. Additionally, members discussed the findings of a study conducted by the GCC General Secretariat in cooperation with the Arab Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education on student participation in university quality assurance processes, along with other matters related to the work of the GCC Higher Education Quality Assurance Network.