During A Gulf’s Panel Discussion, In Which the Dean of Student Affairs Participated.. UoB Reviews the Experience of the Quality of Education for Students with Disabilities

University of Bahrain – Sakhir (trainee Mohammed Al-Miarie)
31 March 2022
The Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Bahrain (UoB), Dr. Fatima Mohammed Al-Maliki, participated with a discussion paper in which she reviewed the University’s experience with students with disabilities, in the sixth panel discussion held by the Gulf Network for Quality Assurance of Higher Education in the GCC, entitled: “Experiences of GCC Universities in Providing High Quality Education for Students with Disabilities”.
In her intervention in the panel discussion, which was held on Wednesday (30 March 2022) via the “Zoom” platform from Muscat, Dr. Al-Maliki focused on the University’s provision of appropriate and advanced services to students with disabilities through three basic aspects, namely the educational aspect, the technological and technical aspect, and the infrastructure.
Furthermore, she indicated that UoB provides services and assistive technology for students with visual disabilities, by providing a set of special computers with a modern operating system, which allows students to browse without the need for assistance, thus enabling the blind students to self-train while maintaining their independence and privacy. Also, these programs serve the visually impaired in the areas of learning and career development.
Dr. Al-Maliki added that the University has provided several methods geared towards the visually impaired, such as: specialized technical programs, which are of the latest technologies, and contain the advantages of reading electronic texts, converting them to Braille, and saving them so that the blind student can refer to them at any time.
The Dean of Student Affairs reviewed the support and assistance services provided by the University for students with disabilities of all kinds, including: the deaf through creating the infrastructure and qualified cadres, and an appropriate educational environment, in addition to appointing sign language teachers to facilitate the educational process, and directing students with hearing disabilities to join specializations that suit their abilities and inclinations, and help them develop their own skills.
Also, Dr. Al-Maliki reviewed the role of the E-Learning Center at UoB, which holds workshops and campaigns to convey the electronic culture, and prepare the student community to accept and interact with this type of education in general, and works to facilitate the educational process for students with visual disabilities, particularly through the Ally feature found in all university courses, such as the Blackboard program which can be easily used by the blind.
Also, the Dean Dr. Al-Maliki spoke about the role of the Division for People with Disabilities in the Deanship of Student Affairs, and the most prominent services and programs provided by the Division to students with disabilities from the first day of the student’s admission to the University until his graduation, as well as its role in integrating students with disabilities with their colleagues at UoB and having them participate in programs and events.
Moreover, she indicated that the Division provides cars that are equipped and designated for students with disabilities to transport them to and from the University, and provides small golf cars to transport students with disabilities between the buildings and facilities of the University, in addition to forming teams of volunteer students to assist students with disabilities when they are at the University, and during examination periods, in addition to coordinating with the College of Arts to use the physio brail lab for students with visual impairment to perform final exams that require the use of a computer.
The panel discussion included educational cadres from various universities in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, during which the participants discussed the importance of integrating students with disabilities with their counterparts of other students in educational institutions, and they discussed the experiences of Gulf universities in educating students with disabilities, the mechanisms for evaluating their academic performance, and the future of their education with digital education tools.

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