Manama: Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Higher Education Council (HEC), presided over the council's regular meeting attended by board members and invited officials.
According to Bahrain News Agency, the council reviewed the implementation of decisions taken at its previous meeting and approved a request by Bahrain Specialist Hospital to amend provisions related to establishing a private higher education institution named "Specialised Institute for Health Sciences." The council also examined applications submitted by various higher education institutions and made several key approvals based on reports from the council's General Secretariat.
In terms of academic programme applications, the council approved several new initiatives. The Royal University for Women received approval to add two tracks to its Master of Business Administration programme: finance and banking, and marketing and business administration. Additionally, the university will introduce a Master of Laws programme with four tracks: public law, private law, commercial arbitration, and law and technology. It will also host a Master's programme in business analytics and big data from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
The Arab Open University was granted approval to host a Master of Business Administration programme in collaboration with the Open University, United Kingdom. Similarly, Applied Science University received approval to host a Master's programme in construction project management and a law programme in legal studies from London South Bank University, United Kingdom. Gulf University was approved to introduce a Bachelor's programme in electrical engineering. The Royal University for Women will also introduce a Bachelor's programme in business administration with tracks in digital marketing and social media, entrepreneurship and innovation, and financial technology, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in design with tracks in fashion design, visual communication, fine arts, and interior landscaping.
In addition to the academic programme approvals, the council approved Ahlia University's request to appoint Dr. Esra Saleh Al Dhaen as Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs.
The council also decided to defer several applications submitted by higher education institutions for further study due to incomplete regulatory requirements.