Tazeen Akhtar
Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, for the sake of promotion of quality education in the country, has requested the government of Pakistan not to grant charter to any university without taking HEC on board. Earlier dozens of private universities were granted charters by passing the concerned body HEC , using influence of the ministers and parliamentarians.
It is commonly known among the journalists covering education beat that many universities and medical colleges secured charters and NOCs bribing the influential people in the political parties including the members of the Parliament.
Pakistani governments are always under criticism for least allocations for the education sector. Same is the state of affairs at HEC that is seeking an increase in its budget. Presently, it has 65 Billion Rs but the projects and programs require an enhanced budget of minimum 140 Billion Rs.
HEC is in the grip of interesting situation due to the lack of officers at higher level posts of members, directors and director generals etc.
For continuity of the work , junior officers are being assigned additional duties of higher posts but the media is taking it mostly as mismangement. New Chairman is tackling with this state of affairs parallel to other tasks to be accomplished in a given time table.
The journalists are looking forward to another tussel between two other Chairman and Executive Director after it was observed between the previous two. Chairman HEC Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar is optimistic that it will never happen but who knows anything about future. Presently , while he has assumed the charge, the notifications of postings, promotions, transfers are being issued by ED.
HEC has issued directions to the universities to hire quality faculty with a proper selection criteria so that capable teachers could be provided to the next generation.
HEC has selected top 5 universities that have international reputations and pointed out 15 such universities that have potential to become top universities of the country. HEC has decided to upgrade and equip these universities to bring Pakistan to the international stage in the higher education sector.
The journalists discussed all these issues with Chairman HEC Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar , newly appointed Chairman of Higher Education Commission in his first interaction with them after a month of assumption of the charge at his office. HE expressed his mind and priorities to improve the higher education landscape of Pakistan in coming months.
On ED matter, Dr Niaz Ahmad dismissed the concerns and said ” We are on one Page.” He said , I have asked ED to sign the letters if I am not available at the office.
ED was not present at the occasion as was expected because it was first exposure to the press by the Chairman. Dr. Niaz Ahmad informed the journalists that his uncle was out of sorts and the ED is in hospital to take care of him.
Truning to his priorities as Chairman, he mentioned, this is the age of Artificial Intelligence. The universities will groom the students in AI so that they can compete in international universities and get employment soon after receiving their degree. Chairman HEC, mentioned , if the industry is not providing jobs to degree holders, it is the weakness of the industry and not of the university.
Samarkand State Medical Institute Welcomes Pakistani Students of MBBS
HEC has constituted a ranking committee of the universities to prepare them for international ranking.
Not only the universities but even if a university has some department that is performing extraordinary, will be considered for upgradation. These departments will be declared centers of excellence and get special funding. Especially formed committees will analyse the status and recommend for funding.
HEC has started work on different sectors including agricultural land, textile, medical, engineering and technology. There are 300 programs from which important sectors have been prioritized to work upon for excellence.
Regarding student affairs, Chairman Dr. Niaz shared the upgraded procedures of verification of degrees from HEC and Foreign Office as well without visiting the offices.
The student can apply online from home and submit his/her credentials. An email will be generated soon after and sent to concerned officials of their university who will resend the mail after confirmation. Students will pay the fixed fee and in the same process the degree will be attested from Foreign Office too.
Another step for facilitation of the students is , 25 universities have been directed to get a complete education record of the student at the time of admission that will be shared with HEC as well. The universities will accomplish this task till 30 June. This will help issuing the attested degree by HEC and Foreign Office to the student as soon as he is passed out.
On the question of suicides of students like two incidents in Lahore university and one each in Fatima Jinnah Medical University and Punjab University, Chairman HEC was asked to arrange special behavioural training of the teaching staff to avoid such unfortunate incidents in the future.
Dr. Niaz Ahmad replied that separate accreditation councils are being formed and he had meetings with vice chancellors in this regard. He said one meeting will be held in Islamabad and soon the same meetings will be held in Lahore and Karachi. A VC forum is also being called in Islamabad after Eid.
The chairman dispelled the impression that admissions to universities are decreasing.
He shared figures that 3.5 Million students are studying in Pakistani universities at this time. He shared his information of Qauid e Azam university as he was VC there before posting as Chairman HEC. He said , 18 thousand students applied for admissions at QAU but according to the space 18 hundred could get the admissions.
HEC is attaching imporatnce to research projects. The commission has recieved 7 thousand research proposals from which 150 will be selected and funded for further working upon them. Research is one of the basic responsibility of the universities but unfortunately Pakistani universities have not showed any remarkable discovery as well as inventions so far.
Promotions of faculty has always been a controversial topic in the universities. Making it conditional with papers published in international journals is debated among the stake holders as not a proper criteria. Chaiman shared that a discussion was held at Planning Commission the same day. We are presenting a new criteria of performance within one week.
Note shared by Chairman HEC on his social media ;
During a session with media persons today, I reaffirmed HEC’s unwavering commitment to a robust uplift of Pakistan’s academic landscape. To align our sector with global trends, HEC has made a three-credit-hour course on Artificial Intelligence mandatory for all undergraduate programs, ensuring our graduates are prepared for the digital economy.
We are also transitioning document attestation to a fully online system, eliminating the need for physical visits and enhancing public convenience. Through newly constituted committees, we are streamlining provincial coordination, improving international university rankings, and strengthening ORICs to foster industry-academia collaboration.
I have formally requested that the National Assembly and Senate ensure no new universities are established without an HEC NOC to maintain strict regulatory standards.
From completing the distribution of 65,000 laptops to filling critical administrative vacancies, our focus remains on transparency, merit-based admissions, and quality assurance.
Together, these reforms along with a number of upcoming initiatives will In Sha Allah position our universities as global leaders in research, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
