Dubai may close branch campuses

Some university branches in Dubai risk possible closure this year because they have not convinced regulators they are matching the standards of their home campuses, the head of the group that governs free-zone institutions told the National. The University Quality Assurance International Board (Uqaib), formed last year to regulate the branches, is reviewing 24 free-zone campuses in the emirate. He said the ultimate sanction would be for the licence of a branch campus to be revoked, and he warned that it could happen to some universities. 'At the end of this year that may occur,' he said. 'If we need to, we'll do that.'