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Summary 57Muslim countries representatives meet in Riyadh to discuss Quality Assurance System in varsities.
An extraordinary two-day session of the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was attended by over 57 Ministers of Higher Education of the Muslim world to discuss and approve the guide for assessment and quality enhancement for universities in the Islamic World.Pakistan was represented by a three-member delegation headed by Dr. Javaid R. Laghari, Chairperson, Higher Education Commission (HEC).Pakistan had played a significant role in the preparation of the Quality document and in his address to the meeting, Dr. Laghari elaborated that the HEC has the experience of working on key performance indicators (KPIs) and has developed and implemented a quality assurance system through the Quality Enhancement Cells in the last two years at all its universities.It has established Accreditation Councils, and developed a Ranking Model which has been implemented from this year. Thus he offered to play a lead role to contribute in the capacity building of other Islamic countries on need basis for adoption of these KPIs. Dr. Laghari was elected as Member of the Executive Council of the Conference and appointed Rapporteur.On the second day of the meeting, Dr. Laghari, who was one of the three key invited speakers at the Round Table on Strengthening Linkages in Higher Education Sector for Quality Assurance, spoke on Harnessing Fruit of Innovation in the Muslim World.He described how quality and relevant research contributed to the economic development of many emerging economies. He informed how the socio-economic transformation is taking place at HEC, as it moves from its traditional role of higher education and research to innovation and entrepreneurship.
