On Thursday, the 7th of September, 2023, his Excellency our university Rector, Prof. Dr. Edrees Muhamad Tahir Harki received Mr. De Wilde Roeland, the Executive Director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Mohammed Mr. Diler Faisal, the Head of the Disaster Risk Reduction at the organization.
In a meeting where the Vice Rector for the Scientific Affairs and Higher Education and the Director of International Relations Office of our university were present, they discussed the implementation of the memorandum of understanding between our university and IOM that was signed in the past (EPU-Youth Mappers Students chapter) which includes working together to serve the Kurdish society, especially the Erbil city through (EPU-Youth Mappers Students chapter) which consists of a number of teachers and students of our university to solve the flood problem in Erbil.
The first joint work of our university with this organization was preparing a proposal to solve the problem of floods and water accumulation in some areas of Erbil that was submitted to the Council of Ministers. After receiving the approval, our university jointly with the International Organization for Migration will implement the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Municipalities and Tourism.
On Tuesday, the 5th of September, 2023, in the presence of Prof. Dr. Edrees Mhamad Tahir Harki, Asst. Prof. Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Kalari, the President of the Supervision and Quality Assurance Agency, and the consultants of the Minister of Higher Education Asst. Prof. Dr. Sabah Weiss and Asst. Prof. Dr. Amir Chali, the Quality Assurance Accreditation Training Course was held by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research at the Presidency of Erbil Polytechnic University.
At the beginning of the course, Prof. Dr. Edrees Muhamad Tahir Harki delivered a speech.
“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Dear Consultants and Directors of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, University Council, Dear Teachers and Students, Welcome.
Erbil Polytechnic University is pleased to host a program on the quality assurance in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and NVAO of the Netherlands.
Ladies and gentlemen, the issue of quality assurance is a very important phrase and is often repeated. Let’s see what is the importance of the quality assurance and why it is so important In fact, the quality assurance is a fundamental pillar of a successful management model in any field, whether in education and academia or in business, health or any other field. Therefore, the quality assurance programs are given special importance in all countries of the world. In the field of higher education, quality assurance has its own standards. These standards vary from a country to another and from institution to institution. But what is important is the programs that are quality assured, and we can benefit from the experience of Western countries, I express my gratitude towards the Ministry of Higher Education for setting up the program with the assistance of the Dutch agency, which I consider a worthy and necessary work for the universities of the Kurdistan Region.”
“The quality assurance program is currently being paid attention to by Kurdistan universities in general and the Ministry of Higher Education in particular. More importantly, we need quality assurance awareness. Indeed, many students, teachers and employees have not understood the importance of quality assurance, so we think that after this course you will become quality assurance teachers in educational centers, universities and higher education institutions, because we need quality assurance awareness This course should be a good basis for further promoting quality assurance and we can pay more attention to this field, because we know that the more attention we pay to quality assurance, the more we can improve the level of education The quality of higher education in the Kurdistan Region is at a high level. I wish you success in this course and its repetition. I welcome you again and welcome the staff who came from the Netherlands.”
On the first day of the course, the topics related to quality assurance and standards were explained to the participants in a teamwork manner. Similarly, on the second day, the agenda was completed and the course ended.
The course lasted for two days and was opened for seven Kurdistan universities: Erbil Polytechnic University, Salahaddin University, Erbil Medical University, Duhok University, Duhok Polytechnic University, Zakho University, and Soran University. The course was dedicated for university quality assurance staff and some students that was conducted by the Dutch organization NVAO and delivered by two experts and professors of Dutch universities named (Michele Wrea) and (Yvonne Overdevest).
To prepare for the new academic year 2023-2024, on Wednesday, the 6th of September, 2023, in the presence of Prof. Dr. Edrees Muhamad Tahir Harki, the Rector of the Erbil Polytechnic University, conducted a meeting on the electronic registration of students in the Erbil Polytechnic University.
In the meeting Asst. Prof. Dr. Nageb Toma Bato, the Vice Rector for Scientific Affairs and Higher Education, Asst. Prof. Dr. Botan Majid Asngar the Dean of Erbil Technology College, the Chairman of Bologna Process Committee, Ms. Pakistan Muhammed Amin the Dean of the Soran Technical College, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sarsam Khalil Shuwani, the Director of the General Registration of the Erbil Polytechnic University, the Chairman of ECTS Committee, and the Head Units of Registration of all colleges and institutes were present. A seminar was presented by Mr. Balen Abdulqader Othman, the Head of Registration Unit of the Shaqlawa Technical College, Mr. Yad Hoshyar and Mr. Mahmoud Jabbar about the electronic registration system of our university students.
In the seminar, the quality of registering students electronically was explained in detail for the participants. It is worth mentioning that the preparation and completion of this system will greatly facilitate students and university staff in student registration, which is scheduled to be implemented for the academic year 2023-2024.
On Monday, the 4th of September, 2023, Prof. Dr. Edrees Muhamad Tahir Harki, the Rector of the Erbil Polytechnic University, received Ms. Michele Wrea and Ms.Yvonne Overdevest from the Dutch organization NVAO, which is dedicated to giving confidence to the quality assurance process in universities.
In a meeting where Ass. Prof. Dr. Nageb Toma Bato, the Vice Rector for the Scientific Affairs; Asst. Prof. Dr. Ranj Sirwan Abdullah, the Director of the International Relations Office, Mr. Kamal Mohammed Abdullah, the Director of the Quality Assurance Department, and Mr. Sarmand Hamid Nasradin, the Administrative Director were present, they discussed the quality assurance process and how to promote the quality culture of universities.
The delegation’s visit to Erbil is to conduct a training course for several quality assurance managers of Kurdistan universities, which is hosted by the Presidency of the Erbil Polytechnic University.
