JERUSALEM | Al-Quds University recently hosted a trilateral meeting that brought together  the Faculty of Health Professions (FHP) and representatives from the World Bank and the Palestinian Higher Education Ministry’s Curriculum Development and Planning Division to discuss the faculty’s curriculum project that is funded by the World Bank.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Jutta Fran, of the World Bank, Eng. Maram Jadbeh and Ms. Rasha Za’rour, both as representatives of the World Bank’s Projects Coordination Unit at the Ministry of Higher Education, along with representatives from the other partnering institutions.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Akram Kharroubi welcomed the attendees and thanked the World Bank for supporting the project of developing the FHP’s curriculum. He noted that the process of developing the curriculum of the FHP’s undergraduate programs is now in its final stages.

Dr. Rania Abu Sir presented a detailed explanation on the up-to present accomplishments of the project of developing the curricula of Medical Lab, Nursing, Physical Therapy, Medical Imaging, and Midwifery. She also drew on the mechanisms for developing the faculty’s curriculum that have been implemented in compliance with the international standards of curriculum development and planning, noting that the new curriculum will be applied as of the fall of the academic year 2019-2020.

The project is managed and supervised by Dean Dr. Akram Kharroubi and faculty member Dr. Rania Abu Seiras, as well as by other key partners from the Palestinian private sector, namely Augusta Victoria Hospital, Red Crescent Hospital in Al-Bireh, Abu Rayya Center for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, and Ro’ya Specialized Radiology Center.

As part of this project, the current laboratories have been upgraded by installing modern equipment to align with the updated-curriculum. Training for a group of academics and other partners’ personnel is also expected to take place in the coming few months in several EU countries, and in Turkey, Japan, and Jordan.

Representatives of the Palestinian private sector’s health institutions that are engaged in the project highly praised “the unique model of partnership between Al-Quds University and other parties, which is intended to foster the vocational skills of health graduates and promote the Palestinian health sector as a whole”.  

During the meeting, the World Bank’s representatives were informed that the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission (AQAC) at the Ministry of Higher Education will meet with the FHP within two weeks to showcase the new curriculum in its final version and get their review and feedback in order to accelerate the accreditation process.

At the end of the meeting, the visitors toured the newly-installed labs where Dr. Fran and the other representatives expressed their appreciation for the work done so far.