Almotamar.net, Saba - The Cabinet discussed on Tuesday the draft regulations of the Academic Accreditation Council and quality assurance of higher education, presented by Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The Cabinet, in its meeting on Tuesday chaired by Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar, directed to refer the draft regulations to a ministerial committee, formed from Ministries of Civil Service, Legal Affairs and Higher Education, to review it and raise the results to the Cabinet in next meeting for final discussion and approval.

According to the draft regulation, the Accreditation Council is the body responsible for the affairs of quality assurance and accreditation in higher education in the country and seeks to improve the quality of higher education through helping the higher education institutions to apply quality assurance mechanisms and achieve the academic accreditation standards.

Among the Council's functions are to develop, modify basics and standards of higher education institutions' accreditation in light of the public policy of the higher education, and to ensure that the higher education institutions achieved their goals through taking appropriate procedures to assess their programs and outputs .

The cabinet approved an the agreement of the Finance Ministry and he Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum concerning the budget of the stage of registration and the phase of elector records for the parliamentary elections scheduled next April.

The Government approved a draft decree of regulations on dealing with recommendations of the Parliament and the Shura Council.
The Government directed to complete the necessary legal procedures on the regulations, which is included in 16 articles divided into three chapters including naming, definitions and objectives, functions of the government and the concerned agencies, and the final and general provisions.

The regulations draft aims to contribute to enhancing relationship and developing joint action between the constitutional institutions, so as to promote the governmental performance with regard to dealing with the recommendations of the Parliament and the Shura Council.

It also seeks to assist decision makers at various concerned levels to take decisions that achieve efficiency and effectiveness for the implementation of government-related outputs of the Parliament and the Shura Council and to address the difficulties and problems that impede the implementation of those outputs.

The Cabinet also approved the loan agreement signed on July 23, 2010 with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), as Director of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD).

Under this agreement the IDB will contribute to funding of the project to support rural development opportunities with an amount of Islamic Dinar 8.33 million (about USD 12.5 million).

The Cabinet directed the concerned ministers to follow up the completion of the legal and constitutional procedures required to endorse the agreement.

The project to support rural development opportunities aims in general to create sustainable economic opportunities and assistant activities to increase incomes of men and women, who work in the agricultural sector.

The project will be carried out in the provinces of Abyan, Amran, Dhamar, Hodeidah, Lahj, Ibb, Taiz and Sana'a.

The project consists of a group of activities including the development of food value chains, the construction of water harvesting facilities, the microfinance in the rural areas, and the establishment of the economic opportunities fund, as well as follow up implementation of the project, workshops, and financial auditing.