Bahrain Polytechnic invited an international panel of experts from several top universities to conduct a review of its Bachelor of Business programmes for a week in early January.
Chaired by Problem Based learning (PBL) expert, Dr. Mark Vluggen from Maastricht University, two separate panels comprising senior academics, Bahraini industry representatives and professional accreditation experts, conducted a validation exercise of the Polytechnic’s Marketing, Management, Finance and Accounting programmes.
Dr. Mohamed Al-Aseeri, Acting CEO of Bahrain Polytechnic, praised the panel for their efforts to meet and compile a report about the Polytechnic’s current and future programmes, and claims that the educational institution is moving in the right direction.
“It is particularly important that, in pursuit of excellence, we challenge ourselves through external audit and we encourage advice from external partners.” said the Acting CEO, who opened the review session with other higher officials.
Overall, the expert panel expressed great appreciation for the achievements of Bahrain Polytechnic within such a short timeframe. Although, at this early development stage of the Polytechnic, it is to be expected that its programmes are only beginning to establish their reputation, the panel pointed to several areas of best-practice, including its industry project and dedicated market research to support new programmes.
More importantly, believes the Dean of Business, Cormac MacMahon, “The panels have highlighted opportunities for enhancement and the exercise has been instrumental in seeding a culture of continuous improvement and assurance of learning within the School. The Polytechnic has been very supportive of this approach as it helps us to benchmark to the highest possible standards and international norms while contextualizing our programmes to industry requirements in Bahrain.”
Dr. Al-Aseeri also announced positive news on the potential for two new bachelor programmes in Human Resource Management and Business Tourism to be introduced in the near future.
“Independent labour-market research indicates a strong demand for HRM and Tourism graduates and we are doing our best to implement the programmes as soon as possible, thanks to the dedicated efforts from our staff”, he concluded.
Dr. Al-Aseeri also expressed his gratitude to the panel which took the time to bring up the report, insisting that their aid will help fulfill Bahrain’s 2030 Vision and the governments work programme 2011-2014.