FOREWORD

From the Chair of OAQHE

Dr. Samya Al Shanfari Chairperson, OAQHE

Dear colleagues and friends, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the first issue of Quality Matters, a new chapter in OAQHE’s commitment to bringing our higher education community together to share, reflect and learn from one another. The value of any quality system must ultimately be judged by what becomes better because of it. A student survey has value when the student experience improves. A review has value when it leads to better decisions. As you read this first issue, I leave you with one question that I hope will accompany future issues as well: What became better because of what we did? Read the full foreword →

QUALITY INSIGHT · IN CONVERSATION

H.E. Dr. Jokha Abdullah Al Shukaili President of the Oman Authority for Quality Assurance of Education (OAQA), on the national quality journey and what a culture of quality asks of every institution. “OAQA reviews reveal a sector in transition, from compliance-oriented quality assurance toward a more mature, improvement-driven quality culture.” “My message to everyone who works in quality assurance is that your work matters.”

THE AUTHORITY · A NATIONAL JOURNEY

Read the full interview →

EVENT PREVIEW · MUSCAT · 9 NOVEMBER

OAQHE 4^th Quality Day

The fourth Quality Day brings Oman’s higher education community together as the Association marks twenty years of service to quality. Around 150 participants are expected, including ministers and senior officials, vice-chancellors and deans, heads of quality assurance, employers and students.

KEYNOTES

HH Princess Al Jawhara bint Fahd Al Saud  ·  Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Zubair  ·  Mr Rafic Bizri, with an opening framing by OAQHE Chair Dr Samya Al Shanfari.

FOUR CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER

FROM DIALOGUE TO ACTION

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Contributed articles

OAQHE IN ACTION · MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

Listening to our members: shaping the next chapter of OAQHE

1 OCTOBER 2026  ·  SCIENTIFIC COLLEGE OF DESIGN, MUSCAT

REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

The wider quality landscape

LOCAL From classroom to industry Dr Tess Goodliffe represented OAQHE on a panel at the Oman Career Summit 2026, making the case for industry involvement in curriculum design.

ARAB REGION Quality in the age of AI OAQHE Board members joined the ANQAHE Forum 2026 in Doha, which explored what AI and digital transformation mean for quality in higher education.

INTERNATIONAL Save the date: INQAAHE 2027 Doha hosts the 19th INQAAHE Biennial Conference, 4–7 April 2027: Beyond Compliance. Conference site →

QUALITY TIPS

Three things to try this quarter

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES & KEY DATES

FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM

Write for Issue 02

Our next theme is Student Voice and Student Partnership. We welcome feature articles, case studies, opinion pieces and student contributions from every member institution, in English or Arabic.

Feature 1,200–1,800 words  ·  Case study 800–1,200  ·  Opinion / student 500–800
Submissions close 30 November 2026

THE COMPLETE ISSUE

Download Quality Matters, Issue 01

All the articles, the full interview and every photograph, in the complete PDF edition.

Stay connected.

Questions, contributions or ideas for the next issue? Find us on every channel below.

oaqhe.org.om  ·  oaqhebod@gmail.com

Quality Matters, written by the sector, for the sector.
Editorial team: Sulaiman Al Hasani · Wafa Al-Maawali · Lujain El Maghraby · Khalid Al Jardani · Tess Goodliffe · Huda Al Habsi

© 2026 Oman Association for Quality in Higher Education · OAQHE-NL-2026-01