The opinion board in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research held its seventh meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of Education, Prof. Dr. Nabil Kazem Abdel-Saheb, in the presence of the advanced owners and university presidents.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister of Education stressed the importance of the institutional path of universities and providing the appropriate level of quality performance and community service in accordance with the vision and academic planning undertaken by the councils of university institutions, faculties, departments and scientific branches.

The members of the opinion panel discussed the topics on the agenda and voted on the following decisions:

▪️ Acceptance of the first students from the Ports Institute by 10% of the graduates of the Port Technologies and Port Management Departments in the Engineering Technical Colleges within the Technical Universities.

▪️ Approval of the multiplicity of exam attempts for successful preliminary studies students by uploading according to the revised exam instructions 134 for the year 2000.

▪️ Continuation of the calendar exam for the academic year 2023/2022 for the group of medical faculties and nursing faculties, the adoption of the comprehensive exam for students of the finished stages of medicine and dentistry, and the inclusion of the competence of medical laboratory techniques in the evaluation exam during the next academic year.

▪️ Handling the cases of students with primary university degrees in various disciplines who graduated from universities not mentioned in the approved evidence through their enrollment in the last year within the specialization of study in Iraqi universities and within the instructions and controls of the international parallel.

▪️ Adopting the standards of sobriety stipulated in the form approved by the Department of Missions and Cultural Relations in dealing with universities of countries that have agreements and programs for cultural exchange and joint scientific and academic cooperation with Iraq.

▪️ Confirmation of commitment to the number of exam attempts allowed for students of equivalency who have a preliminary university degree in medical specialties from outside Iraq.

▪️ Approval of the recommendations of the committee charged with dissolving the belongings of former graduates of the Institute of Arab History and Scientific Heritage for Graduate Studies and addressing the cases of graduates of the same institute who started studying before 2013 and graduated after this year.

▪️ Agreeing to host a representative of the Iraqi Academics Syndicate in the meetings of the opinion board without the right to vote.

During the meeting, the Minister of Education directed all university administrations to support the teaching staff and enable them to upgrade the scientific research platforms inside and outside Iraq, take into account their academic and societal status, emphasize the requirements of the quality of teaching and learning and modern teaching methods, follow up and develop the requirements of theoretical, practical, laboratory, clinical and applied curricula and the need to maintain the university environment and its green spaces and respect for contexts and academic norms, reconsidering the instructions for scientific promotions, holding workshops in this regard, and providing the necessary recommendations and proposals that secure the achievement of the desired goal in accordance with the strict scientific perspective, applying laws, preserving the identity of universities and their responsible academic path, and adhering to the timings set for the new academic year 2023/2022 in the preliminary and higher studies, exam dates and preparing The requirements and belongings of the second round exams and providing full support to educational institutions in the performance of the exams of sixth preparatory students, taking care of the official websites of universities and managing publishing in them based on the requirements of the professional scientific activity of the institution and its formations, and attention to the level of Performance of the elements of follow-up and integration of the security force responsible for protecting facilities, reviewing the specialized development plan, and determining the horizon of outputs according to labor market indicators.

At the end of the meeting, the Ministry’s advisor, Dr. Alaa Abdel Hassan Attia, reviewed the course of the Bologna Process system and the stages of development of universities in the world, especially the fifth generation stage, which witnesses competition and overlap in the governmental and industrial fields, as well as its race to meet the requirements of civil society and the vital environment, noting that this development is imposed on The university institution is moving towards innovation, developing systems and curricula, and foreseeing the future of new professions and jobs.