“Higher Education” enhances the capabilities of universities to implement the output-based evaluation system

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, represented by the Commission for Academic Accreditation, held a series of practical workshops. To build the capabilities of higher education institutions in the country, and enable them to implement the output-based evaluation framework that the Ministry launched at the beginning of this year, as part of its efforts to enhance the quality of higher education in the country, and ensure its efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness.

The workshops were organized with the aim of clarifying the pillars of the framework and the key performance indicators associated with it, and to enable higher education institutions to build a common understanding of the framework’s components, its application mechanisms, and how to benefit from it in developing their performance, in a way that ensures the quality of their educational programs, and enhances the ability of these institutions for self-evaluation and continuous improvement, according to clear indicators of performance and results.


Evaluation framework
The Ministry stressed that the output-based evaluation framework constitutes a qualitative shift in the methodology of continuous improvement of the quality of academic programs, as it focuses primarily on the results and skills acquired, rather than traditional inputs, indicating that it will continue to support academic institutions in all stages of implementing the framework, by holding workshops and capacity building programs; To ensure optimal implementation of the framework, thus enhancing the competitiveness of higher education in the country at the regional and global levels.

A step-by-step, multi-stage approach
During the current year, the Ministry’s Academic Accreditation Commission organized 12 introductory and training workshops, in which 735 representatives of higher education institutions nationwide participated.

The workshops were implemented in three main phases, with the first focusing on “explaining the framework and collecting feedback,” during which its six pillars and associated performance indicators (employment outcomes, learning outcomes, cooperation with partners, scientific research outcomes, reputation and global presence, and community participation) were presented. During this phase, a number of field visits were carried out to a number of academic institutions, to assess their readiness to implement the framework.

The second phase included “focused technical workshops”, for two days each, and dealt with the applied aspects of designing performance indicators and mechanisms for collecting and analyzing data, during which observations and feedback were collected, and inquiries from higher education institutions were answered.

While the third phase focused on updating the framework and data integration, based on feedback from universities and strategic partners, and clarifying the electronic linking mechanism that the Ministry recently launched, to support the integration of information and data between the systems of higher education institutions and the Ministry’s databases.

The implementation of these workshops comes within the framework of positive interaction and close cooperation between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and higher education institutions in the country, and based on the Ministry’s commitment to enhancing the quality of academic program outcomes, and supporting higher education institutions in building flexible and effective academic programs that contribute to achieving the country’s goals, and in building a knowledge economy, based on excellence and innovation, by adopting modern regulatory frameworks based on evaluating performance and outcomes.