On 13th June 2019, the Kurdish partners of the TIGRIS Project met at Duhok Polytechnic University for their annual regional project management meeting.
Prof. Dr. Adnan Abdulazeez, President of Duhok Polytechnic University, greeted the partners with a welcome address underlining the importance of the TIGRIS project.
He was followed by Mr. Bryar Hassan from the project’s regional co-coordinator, the Kurdistan Institution for Strategic Studies and Scientific Research, in his speech reinforcing the importance of internationalisation strategies and the role of the Ministry in this regard.
Mr. Hassan then kicked-off the meeting’s working programme by presenting a proposed framework for internationalisation strategies for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) and the universities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
As part of framework, he suggested refining the Law on Higher Education (Rule number 10 – 2008) towards the internationalisation process while also issuing/refining the regulations related to the national ranking (NUR), joint programmes, budget allocation, quality assurance, and international marketing. Moreover, he suggested arranging a conference on Bologna process and implementation of ETCS and discussed additional topics, such as logistical process for student and staff mobility, involvement of other universities, especially the private universities, national scholarship schemes and funding, and the representation of TIGIRS project at the Ministry Council.
The agenda continued with individual presentations of Kurdish HEI partners, in which they presented their internationalisation strategies developed, thereby also identifying necessary reform items as well as current shortcomings and progression constraints.
The final presentation was given by Ms. Vian Mahmud Zamdar, Focal Point at the MHESR, in which she presented the Ministry’s views of the subject, agreeing that refining the Law on Higher Education (Rule number 10 – 2008) is a necessity for the internationalisation process.
After a lunch break, the partners continued with their working programme now focusing on issues related to the management and implementation of the project.
Besides other topics, the partners reviewed and discussed the project budget in relation to the financial regulations of the Kurdistan Regional Government and their need for adaptation to EU funding rules.
Additionally, partners discussed the further implementation of the Bologna process at Kurdish HEIs, and the inclusion of foreign experts and students’ representatives in this process.
Kurdish partners also developed plans regarding additional meetings with the MHESR as well as for future project activities such as promotion and outreach activities or the development of a sustainability strategy for project results.