European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)

ECTS makes teaching and learning more transparent and facilitates the recognition of studies. The system is used across Europe for credit transfer (student mobility) and credit accumulation (learning paths towards a degree). It also informs curriculum design and quality assurance. 

Institutions which apply ECTS publish their course catalogues on the web, including detailed descriptions of study programmes, units of learning, university regulations and student services. Course descriptions contain learning outcomes (what students are expected to know, understand and be able to do) and workload (the time students typically need to achieve the learning outcomes), expressed in terms of credits. At University of Zakho, student workload is around 1,500 hours for an academic year, and one credit corresponds to 25 hours of work. Credit transfer and accumulation are helped by the use of the ECTS key documents (course catalogue, learning agreement, and transcript of records) as well as the Diploma Supplement.


For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/education/tools/ects_en.htm


There is no doubt that the universities play a vital role in any society and they have a significant impact in moving the wheel of the development. This is because the universities are considered the highest educational institutions which always seek to provide the needs of the society and without them it is very difficult to make any progress in all areas. Likewise, University of Zakho, since its establishment, tries to have an effective role in the service of the society and improve the quality of the education so that it could become one of the leading universities in Kurdistan Region. To achieve this, the university is always interested in interacting with the changes taking place and takes advantage of technology and advanced systems of higher education in the developed countries. Moreover, based on the vision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHE-KRG) for improving and developing education and research in Kurdistan, the MHE-KRG encourages University of Zakho to adopt the European education system through issuing an order No. 1262 in 27/9/2017. Therefore, the university has started to adopt a new system of education so called “Bologna Process (BP)” for the academic year (2017- 2018), as this process contains pioneering lessons which can be utilized by the university to have more benefits for the students.

This website attempts to provide a guide to BP in general. In addition, it aims to create a clear picture to the interested parties to have a full overview of the implementation and the structure of this system at the University of Zakho.

The Bologna declaration, which aims to consolidate the higher educational system in the European Area, was signed by 29 European Higher Education Ministers in 1999. This process is developed as an attempt to increase the competitiveness of the European universities worldwide and strengthen their attractiveness. However, the main aims are to facilitate the mobility of students over the European universities, provide more transparency of educational system, and enhance the mutual recognition of qualifications.

The main features of this process include the development of national qualification framework of participating countries in this process and using criteria and procedures that are developed by this process.


About University of Zakho 

The University of Zakho dates back to the year 2005 and within the framework of the directives and concerns of His Excellency Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and Mr. Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, made a decision to lay the foundation stone of the College of Education and the College of Commerce (during the fifth cabinet) in a university campus in Zakho, which at that time officially belonged to the University of Duhok. 

On 8th of July 2010, a formal order was issued to establish a university in Zakho by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in KRG (sixth cabinet). The structures of the University of Zakho for the academic year 2016-2017 are as follows:

The University of Zakho formed a program to help raise the scientific level according to international standards through the development of the program, the implementation of health instruction and to sustain the application of science and quality assurance. These are part of the policy of the Kurdistan Regional Government. For example, the perpetuation of the programs to send hundreds of students and professors to universities outside the region and the developed countries to obtain advanced degrees (Masters and PhD) in various sciences and each according to their terms of reference to be the basis for the change and development of a scientific point in the Kurdistan region.


For more information visit the University of Zakho