On 29 October 2013, in the presence of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Crown Prince, HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi, Minister of State for Faith and Communities, Dominic Scott, BAC’s Deputy Chairman, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bahrain’s Minister for Education, Dr Majid  Bin Ali Al Noaimi. The MoU outlines how BAC will advise the Ministry’s Higher Education Council (HEC) in setting up a robust infrastructure to implement a system of accreditation for Bahrain’s HEIs, advise on the current system of licensing of new institutions, and provide the resources and expertise to review and report on institutions applying for accreditation. The next day, BAC met with the Minister and the Secretary General of the HEC to discuss in more detail the operational arrangements and support BAC will provide for this project.
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Dominic Scott, Deputy Chairman BAC, signs the MoU with the Minister for Education, with HRH the Crown Prince and Barnoess Warsi looking on
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The signing party, from L-R, Dominic Scott, Dr Majid  Bin Ali Al Noaimi, Dr Gina Hobson, Dr Riyad Hamzah, Mrs Lubna Sulaibeekh

The MoU builds on a contract signed between the organisations and reported in Dr Hobson’s earlier blog. Dr Hobson, BAC’s Chief Executive, reports that: I’m delighted that HEC has recognised BAC’s expertise and sought its assistance to set up a new accreditation framework, and it is an honour that the Crown Prince has endorsed HEC’s and BAC’s work. We’re looking forward to a long and positive relationship with HEC, where we can help it to achieve its long term goals of developing a world class HE system in the Kingdom.