Higher educational institutions in the Gulf are in dire need of adopting a comprehensive quality management system to meet the students’ current and future aspirations, said a top educator.

Quality has become strategically important as an integrated framework aimed at developing the higher education system in line with the Gulf region’s efforts to transform into a knowledge-based economy, added Dr Mansoor Al Awar, chancellor of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) and chairman of the Governing Board of the Unesco Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE).

Dr Al Awar was delivering lecture titled ‘Quality and Future of Higher Education’ in Saudi Arabia in his capacity as a visiting professor of the Unesco Chair for Quality in Higher Education at Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University.

Dr Al Awar’s discussions revolved around three main themes, namely ‘The Essence of Quality in Higher Education Institutions,’ ‘Quality of Smart Education,’ and ‘Quality Scale in Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University.’

He said smart education has become an essential pillar in ensuring a better future.  He noted that HBMSU, in particular, focuses on promoting the ‘Total Quality Management’ concept, enriching knowledge, and strengthening creativity, innovation and excellent culture and scientific research in the Arab World through smart learning.

He added that the provision of an integrated learning environment, along with accredited academic programs of highest quality standards, will enable higher educational institutions to keep pace with rapid technological development and successive changes in today’s digital age. This leads to building qualified generations capable of leading growth and development processes.

“It is an honour to be invited by Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University and deliver a lecture as a visiting professor of the Unesco Chair for Quality in Higher Education. It is my pleasure to meet the university’s elite group of professors, academic figures and graduate students, who are known for their contributions to scientific research and who are providers of best academic services and graduate studies in Saudi Arabia,” Dr Al Awar concluded. – TradeArabia News Service