Deans of the Saudi Postgraduate Studies voiced thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the Crown Prince and Deputy Crown Prince - May Allah Protect them.

They made the remarks during the 12th round of their meeting at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU). Also, they thanked Prince Khaled Al Faisal, Emir of Makkah and advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his endless support given to reach a comprehensive renaissance in the fields of education and higher education.

The meeting, held on Thursday, Rabi' Al Awwal 2, 1438H, came to an end by a closing session chaired by President of Umm Al Qura University (UQU) Dr. Bakri Bin M'atoog Bin Bakri Assas.

The session ended discussions by announcing a list of recommendations. It was attended by Secretary General of Committee acting as the Higher Education Council Dr. Mohamed bin Abdulaziz Al Saleh, UQU Vice Deans, Dean of the Postgraduate Studies Professor Salih bin Abdullah Al-Firaih and Deans of Graduate Studies of other Saudi universities.

In its final announcement, the participants hailed efforts exerted by the government to improve higher education and sustainable development projects, saying this creates a flourishing future for the whole nation. They prayed to Allah to protect the country and maintain its stability and prosperity.

The deans provided papers with suggestions and strategic initiatives to support deanships' role to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 in addition to the improvement of Saudi higher education to put five universities among the world top 200.

The papers suggested solutions for the higher education outputs and means to meet labor market needs in addition to the remedy of higher education input and output issues according to the Saudi Vision 2030.

The participants asserted need to have a unified vision for the future and sparing no efforts at all Saudi universities according to the Saudi Vision 2030 on three levels (Vital Community, Flourishing Economy and Nation's Ambition).

The graduate studies deans called for immediate review of unified regulations for postgraduate studies at Saudi universities in addition to amendment of organizational and executive rules and measures in parallel with the administrative development of graduate studies deanships to guarantee enhanced scientific performance according to the Saudi Vision 2030.

Also, they suggested a committee shall be formed to review unified regulations for postgraduate studies and to plan the administrative development in light of an inclusive vision for all universities under direct supervision of the education minister.

They called also for putting postgraduate studies programs up for consideration and using modernized plans that meet the labor market needs as per the Saudi Vision 2030.

According  to their final statement, the change shall go happen by a group of mechanisms that include workshop that should be organized in cooperation with the Graduate Studies Deanships, colleges and vision office at the education ministry taking into consideration programs that violate the principles of the Saudi Vision 2030 shall be put on hold.

The recommendations included a request for forming a committee comprising deans of the graduate studies along with representatives from the ministries of education, civil services, and labor in addition to members from the private sector to create a list of labor market needs.

The list shall be updated on periodical basis on which the map of the postgraduate studies shall be stamped to drive the postgraduate theses and research in general in addition to the search in general according to the Saudi Vision 2030 in order to encourage deanships in cooperation with the deanships and colleges specialized in supporting the Saudi Vision 2030.

The recommendations included a call for improving education quality by a commitment to publish Master's theses in famous international journals as a requirement for graduation that is updated and circulated among postgraduate students to improve the Saudi universities' ranking in light of the Saudi Vision 2030.

Also, it called for exchanging students and attracting non-Saudi skilled students to join the postgraduate studies by removing obstacles, encouraging them and maximize use of their experience in order to improve scientific movement in Saudi universities and achieve goals of the Saudi Vision 2030.

The participants have also called for founding an electronic system to uncover fraud and scientific misconduct to spread usage of Arabic language and enact the necessary laws to maintain integrity and transparency in addition to improve the research quality and outputs. They called for adopting the scientific project at all universities to achieve the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030.

The deans reiterated the necessity for enhancing the volunteering values among postgraduate students and staff members by holding awareness workshops and programs in addition to initiatives. Also, they called for increasing financial resources by a program of paid business administration diplomas.

The participants expressed thanks to Education Minister Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Issa for supporting their efforts to improve higher education. In addition, they voiced gratitude to UQU, represented by the Graduate Studies Deanship, for their efforts in preparing and hosting the meeting by creating a favorable climate for serious discussions.