Free zone universities seek accreditation

The time is ripe for the government to recognise institutions that are not accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHSR), said academics from free zone universities in Dubai.

The higher education stakeholders and business officials were speaking at Dubai International Academic City (DIAC)'s first Education Forum in May this year. They debated the topic Is Dubai an Education Hub?

Chaired by Gulf News Editor-at-Large Francis Matthew, the panellists included Professor Lawrence Loh, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Al Ghurair University, Dr B. Ramjee, Director of Manipal University Dubai, and Anna Kizirian, Educational Consultant/Partner, Proactive Management Consultancy.

"Accreditation is something supported by federal government authorities, which, as free zones, we are not required to have. The fact that we don't have accreditation poses a stigma to these institutions," said Ramjee.

As the MoHSR's Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) does not recognise the free zone universities, it poses a disadvantage "because we cannot attract UAE nationals who would want to work in the government sector", he said.

The UAE government departments do not accept graduates with degrees from non-CAA accredited institutions.

Another problem is that students cannot transfer credits or pursue master's or PhD programmes with accredited ones in the UAE or universities abroad, said Ramjee and education counsellors.

"You can have a restriction on quality, which we would be glad to accept, but blanket mandates on institutions don't augur well for the future," Ramjee said. He said reputable branch campuses have gone through stringent accreditation processes.

Suad Al Halwachi, Managing Director, Education Zone, an education counselling company, said the main problem she faced was students graduating with non-CAA accredited degrees and international universities not recognising them.

Panellists Kizirian and Hussam Al Atab, HR Business Partner, Dell Middle East and Egypt called for universities to be internationally accredited by recognised agencies.

"Let's not forget that it's trial and error — we started only seven years ago and we are learning from our mistakes," said Dr Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director, DIAC and Dubai Knowledge Village. DIAC was following the Boston higher education model, which Kazim said was "ideal for us" as Boston had several multi-tiered institutions.

To find out what's going on in the higher education landscape, check out Campus Notes stories in Gulf News every Sunday. To contact the Campus Notes team, send an e-mail to education@gulfnews.com