Given the new Universities Bylaw, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education (MoE) has brought a change in the higher education system by granting disciplined autonomy to universities in framing their academic, financial and administrative regulations.
University leaders will be held accountable for adopting new policies, creating a level of financial resilience that allow them to get all the opportunities of an autonomous model, said a new KPMG publication on higher education in Saudi Arabia.
The publication ‘Distinctiveness – The future of higher education in Saudi Arabia’ aims to explore trends and critical factors for future success in an autonomous higher education system in the Kingdom.
It illustrates the issues from supply to demand-led strategies, digital ways of working, and the age of the learner as a customer.
KPMG has constructed a framework to draw together some of the critical success factors in a university’s evolution and success toward building an autonomous higher education ecosystem.
This framework consists of six interrelated design principles, including re-imagined strategy, re-imagined academic portfolio and student experience, a rejuvenated academic programs, refreshed and strengthened institutional governance, realigning and redesigning the university operating model and revenue diversification.
“If we are to achieve Vision 2030 and its wide-ranging objectives, we must turn policy and strategic intent into operational reality,” said Ziad Zakaria, Senior Director at KPMG’s firm in Saudi Arabia.