Dr. Barakat discussed today with Mr. Michael Krepon, the Head of the European Expert Team, the project of Upgrading the Higher Education Sector in Syria and ways of supporting the educational process in all higher education institutions.
The project, run jointly by the Ministry of Higher Education and the European Commission, aims at enabling the higher education sector in Syria to create the appropriate conditions for improving quality and efficiency in its institutions and building the social and human foundation necessary for economic and social growth.
This 10 million Euros project, funded by the European Union for three years, is expected to develop management systems in higher education institutions, enhance their efficiency and establish a national system for accreditation and quality assurance.
Fields of development include the Management Information System (MIS), established to develop the analysis and flow of information; an Integrated Information System (complete automation within the sector); and the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) developed to secure the necessary link between education policy and budget management. This, in turn, will strengthen the financial system and strategic distribution of higher education resources as well as the accreditation and quality assurance (QA) system, which will set up the education standards.
Damascus, October 31, 2007.
