Establishment of Arab quality testing and accreditation system in addition to focusing on primary and university education

CARDIFF----- July 14, 2011 -----The Board of Directors of Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education (AROQA) held its fourth meeting at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff – UK presided by HE Dr. Talal Abu- Ghazaleh.
The main discussions focused on AROQA activities and accomplishments during the past 12 months. The Board emphasized a need to enhance cooperation with Arab and international accreditation bodies and encourage and facilitate educational quality research as well as tightening cooperation with the Association of Arab Universities and establishing international membership for the relevant international organizations.
The Board decided to proceed with the application submitted by AROQA to join the Economic and Social Council of the League of Arab States (LAS) as well as to send a request to the general secretariat of LAS to hold AROQA 4th Annual Conference at the League’s Headquarters with a focus on coordination, information exchanges, and harmonization of policies between Arab accreditation commissions.
The Board also decided to work on the establishment of an Arab quality testing and accreditation system with focus on quality as well as university higher education.
The Board expressed its gratitude to HE Mr. Amr Moussa for his support and sponsorship of AROQA since its establishment and recommended to preserve a position as an honorary founder president. The Board wishes to extend an invitation to the secretary general of the League of Arab States HE Mr. Nabeel Al Arabi as the honorary president of AROQA.
The Board also expressed gratitude to Dr. Saleh Hashim, vice president of AROQA, for his efforts and contributions and requested that he continues to serve as a founding VP. 

The meeting approved the closing statements of 2010 and budget of 2011. It also adopted an action plan for the next period and made a number of decisions including, the establishment of Advisory Council for Quality Centers.
The Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education was established in 2007, in response to the calls of Arab leaders’ summits to develop the quality of education, as a non –profit organization that aims at promoting the quality of education in Arab countries through the provision of services related to quality assurance, accreditation, improvement of the education standard and capacity building and exchange of experiences in addition to spreading awareness about the characteristics of the excellent education in the Arab region.

HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh during the Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education Board Meeting held at the University of Wales.