The philosophy of the Higher Education Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission stems from the vision of His Majesty King Abdullah II pertaining to the need to continuously develop higher education institutions. This development is essential as it can help these institutions keep pace with global advancements while preserving the national identity and the foundations of the Jordanian society, whose renaissance began with the start of the Great Arab Revolution and the establishment of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Commission has continuously monitored the performance of higher education institutions, especially the quality of teaching and the leaning outcomes. This monitoring process is important due to its role in acquiring advanced knowledge that can aid such intuitions in their pursuit of excellence. The Commission’s follow-ups have branched out and its work increased to keep up with the activities of higher education institutions, especially when they launch new programs and re-evaluate their existing programs to keep pace with their competitors. This requires expanding the range of accreditation and quality, reviewing courses, attracting students, developing online learning, and enhancing scientific research and programs.
Since the issuance of the National Qualifications Framework System on 17th February 2019 in the Official Gazette, the Commission has designed two plans; the first is strategic while the second is operational aiming to implement the above framework. In light of this, the Commission approved general descriptions for all levels, i.e. academic, professional and technical. Policies and outputs were also drawn up according to which the National Qualifications Framework would be applied. In addition, the Commission will soon be establishing standards for institutional inclusion and housing qualifications.
In addition, the Commission has evaluated the academic programs offered by higher education institutions in Jordan, such as Educational Sciences, Pharmacy, Medicine, Dentistry, and Engineering among others. Such evaluation was accompanied by an existent vision that corresponds to the learning outcomes of these programs, e.g. skills, knowledge, and capabilities. Furthermore, the Commission has prepared a careful study of the employment rates for all majors that are offered by Jordanian universities during the past three years (2016-2018). Accordingly, Jordanian higher education institutions have been directed to offer applied technical majors that are compatible with the needs of the labour market, such as: artificial intelligence, data science, and virtual reality.
In the context of accreditation and quality assurance, the Commission has developed accreditation instructions and standards in line with the general descriptions of the National Qualifications Framework. This includes postgraduate programs, academies emerging from partnerships between universities and private sector organizations as well as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and doctor of pharmacy programs. The Commission has also established the foundations for raising the absorptive capacity of higher education institutions, which aims to encourage these institutions to attract international students. In addition, it has developed standards for ensuring the quality of academic programs in line with international standards. The Commission was also able to establish the criteria for the Jordanian classification of academic programs and apply them to (24) academic programs in (26) universities.
The Commission has reviewed the mechanisms of university proficiency examination in light of scientific and electronic developments. In particular, the exam paragraphs were formulated based on the learning outcomes of each program taking into account its areas of knowledge and precise description.
In light of the rapid changes in digitization, the Commission has been keen on preparing an integrated plan for business automation and the transition to electronic transformation. As a result, the workflow system has been updated, the Commission’s procedures and services have been re-designed, the university proficiency examination procedures have been automated, and the work of Universities Accreditation Directorate has begun.
In coordination with the Higher Education Council, the Commission has reduced the number of admissions to majors that are not in demand. In particular, the reduction rates ranged between (40% -60%) of the number of graduates in the academic year (2018/2019).
In the international accreditation context, the Commission has applied to obtain international recognition by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). In fact, it will be the only representative body of (WFME) in accrediting and ensuring the quality of medical schools in Jordan and the Middle East region.
Finally, the Commission has developed a national strategy until 2025 and submitted it to the Higher Education Council, aiming at: developing infrastructure and technological devices in all higher education institutions and promoting the use of open educational resources. The objective of the latter is to improve teaching, learning and scientific research, and to issue accurate and integrated standards for e-learning. Currently, the Commission is working on building a platform aimed at making the outputs of educational institutions meet the requirements of the labour market.
Chairman of Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutions
Professor Thafer Y. Assaraira
Phone : 06-5339237
Fax : 06-5339213
Email :t.assaraira@heac.org.jo