Muscat: The Sultanate participated today in the 19th meeting of the GCC committee of heads of higher education qualifications equivalency committees. The virtual meeting was hosted by the GCC Secretariat General.

The Sultanate was represented by Dr. Bakhit Ahmed al-Mahri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for Higher Education.

The meeting discussed means of developing mechanisms to certify equivalence qualifications issued by GCC member states as per the regulations of each country.

The meeting also touched on means of benefitting from experiences of GCC countries in assigning credential evaluation companies to speed up equivalency procedures and reduce the turnaround time.

The participants emphasized the importance of raising social awareness on the impacts of forging academic qualifications on GCC communities. They also reiterated the importance of unifying media coverage on the GCC level in regard to this issue.

The participants extended their thanks to the Sultanate and the United Arab Emirates for their efforts in collecting data and information about combating forged qualifications through the experiences of GCC and other countries.