First Meeting of Board of Directors of ANEAQ

The Minister Delegate to the Minister of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Executive Training, Mrs. Jamila El Mossalli affirmed on Friday morning in Rabat at the board of directors of the National Agency for Assessment and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Scientific Research, that this body constitutes a strong added value for the Moroccan higher education system, and a national institution of great importance for the sector, given that the promotion of the quality of higher education depends largely on the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation system.

The Minister Delegate stated that quality is one of the foundations of the strategic vision of the reform of the education, training and scientific research system, the Ministry’s action plan 2013-2016 and the Government Program. To this end, the Agency will be entrusted with important tasks in terms of quality assurance through assessment of public and private higher education establishments, assessment of training programs for obtaining or renewal of accreditation and assessment of the activities of doctoral study centers.

Mrs. Minister Delegate praised, on this occasion, the considerable efforts made towards the enactment of law on the establishment of the Agency, the appointment of its Director and the development of the necessary tools for its operation, in particular the drafts of the internal regulations, budget and organizational chart.

For his part, the Director of the Agency, Mr. El Mokhtar BAKKOUR, stressed that the holding of the Agency’s first board of directors was an important step. It is held in a context marked by major advances in education sector, namely the publication of the reform strategic vision 2015-2030, elaborated by the Higher Council for Education, Training and Scientific Research, and the drafting of the framework law regarding the said vision.

1. El Mokhtar BAKKOUR added that the Agency is also responsible for the examination and evaluation of training courses with a view to obtaining or renewing accreditation, which are currently about 2000 accredited courses in the public sector and 400 accredited courses in the private sector, assessment of the activities of the doctoral study centers, of which there are currently 59, assessment of scientific research and the effectiveness of its 1,400 structures, and assessment of university cooperation programs and projects in the field of training and scientific research.

The Agency shall also carry out assessment operations at the request of ministerial departments involved in higher education, scientific research or executive training. The assessment carried out by the Agency shall consist of an audit of academic and institutional performance based on quality criteria fixed by regulation, on a proposal of the Agency.

The agenda of this meeting included the examination of the draft rules of procedure of the Agency’s Board of Directors, the proposed organization of the Agency and its draft budget.