The 21st Meeting of the Deans of Admission and Registration at universities and higher education institutions in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was launched this Thursday morning, hosted by the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Manama. The meeting was held in the presence of His Excellency Dr Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Higher Education Council, with the aim of exchanging views on the future of academic cooperation among GCC universities, and witnessed broad participation from deans of admission and registration and representatives of Gulf universities.

In his speech, HE the Minister of Education and Chairman of the Higher Education Council, welcomed the participants in the meeting held at AGU, which he described as one of the achievements of joint GCC cooperation. He commended all efforts exerted to develop admission and registration mechanisms in GCC member states, stressing the commitment of the Higher Education Council and higher education institutions in the Kingdom of Bahrain to benefit from the outcomes of the meeting to ensure alignment with their counterparts across the GCC.

For his part, His Excellency Dr Saad bin Saud Al Fuhaid, President of AGU, affirmed that holding this meeting in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a nation known for hosting GCC initiatives that support the progress of higher education, reflects the deep cooperation and integration among Gulf universities. He added that this provides a renewed opportunity to develop admission and registration systems, and to exchange expertise and best practices that enhance the quality of higher education across the GCC.

Dr Al Fahaid also expressed his appreciation for the patronage of Bahrain’s Minister of Education and his continuous support for initiatives that strengthen joint GCC efforts in the fields of knowledge and innovation. He highlighted the pivotal role of admission and registration deanships in translating university policies into practical procedures that ensure fairness and transparency, strengthen institutional academic reputation by attracting outstanding students, and enhance assessment, evaluation, and academic marketing mechanisms.

Meanwhile, Dr Aseel bint Fuad Al Saleh, Dean of Student Affairs at AGU, stated: “We are honoured at the Arabian Gulf University to host this meeting aimed at exchanging experiences and best practices that reflect the dynamic progress towards developing admission and registration mechanisms in our universities.”

She explained that the working papers and contributions presented during the meeting provided valuable input for specialised academic consultations that universities seek to benefit from, particularly in light of the topics discussed, which addressed shared interests such as strategies for marketing university programmes and the evaluation and assessment standards adopted in university admissions.

During the meeting, the deans discussed several challenges related to admission and registration, reviewed successful experiences in developing admission mechanisms and marketing academic programmes, and explored initiatives and ideas that strengthen cooperation and integration among higher education institutions in GCC countries.

The first session discussed successful practices in marketing university programmes, during which participants reviewed GCC experiences in programme promotion and student recruitment. The second session examined assessment and evaluation standards in university admissions, including a joint working paper on developing these standards, along with a presentation on AGU’s experience in admitting GCC students.

The third session focused on adopting recommendations from previous meetings and formulating new ones that contribute to advancing the future of higher education in GCC universities. It also included a review of unified reference guides aimed at strengthening GCC student exchange and enhancing admission and registration standards in ways that improve universities’ international ranking indicators.