Pakistan needs an increase in the number of universities as the country’s population is continuously growing, however, this should not happen at the cost of quality – Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood
By Muneer Ahmed Mirjat
The in-person meeting of VC Committee was organized after almost two years at a hotel in Bhurban from October 29-31, 2021. The VC Committee provides a platform to the head of institutions from the public and private sectors to discuss issues being faced by the sector and share good practices for addressing such issues. The meeting was attended by more than 150 heads of the Institutions.
On the first day, Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training was the chief guest and State Minister for Climate Change Ms. Zartaj Gul was the guest of honor. The event started with the welcome address by Dr. Shaista Sohail, Executive Director, Higher Education Commission, Islamabad who apprised the audience about the three-day sessions and presentations. In her welcome address, she mentioned challenges of online education, financial management, University Governance, and developing Student Centric academic eco-system for achieving national goals.
She highlighted the role of Vice-Chancellors in creating an enabling environment for teaching, learning, and innovation. She stressed that there is a strong will needed to deal with the challenges being faced by the students, faculty, and parents during post-covid scenarios regarding continuing their studies, teaching through online mode, and supporting children while having financial difficulties due to Covid-19. She asserted that to deal with these issues, the institutions need to adopt self-sustainability models and implement them with diligence.
The state minister for Climate Change Ms. Zartaj Gul highlighted the salient features of the Tree-10 draft bill during her speech. She said that the Government’s efforts to promote plantation are vital for future generations of Pakistan, adding that according to experts Pakistan is highly prone to the negative impacts of climate change amidst urban flooding and famines and droughts in Thar.
Addressing the university heads, she emphasized, “We need to convert your knowledge and experience into practical solutions for issues like hazards of climate change.” She said her Ministry wants the educational institutions, especially students, to take ownership of the underlying concept of the plantation. She also underlined the universities’ role in promoting tolerance in society.
Addressing the meeting through a video link from Lahore, Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Minister of Federal Education, and Professional Training stressed that developing skill-oriented curricula and degree programs is very important, particularly in the context of rapid changes in employer needs. He laid special emphasis on the significance of measures needed to ensure constant improvement in the quality of education alongside an increase in access and an emphasis on the relevance of education and research.
“No doubt, Pakistan needs an increase in the number of universities as the country’s population is continuously growing, however, this should not happen at the cost of quality.” He also urged the Vice-Chancellors to pay special attention to the character-building of the students. Mr. Shafqat Mahmood highlighted that around 10 million students benefited from the Tele-schools initiative, adding that the Government is planning to dedicate at least five channels for education. He expressed satisfaction over the improvement in the performance of Pakistani universities as many universities have recently made it to international rankings.
As the meeting was arranged with the collaboration of the British Council, and their country director was also present at the event. While addressing the VCs he shed light on the background of the HEC-BC partnership, Mr. Amir Ramzan, Country Director, British Council said that the British Council has developed a very strong working relationship with HEC over the last 15 years. “The aim of our collaborative work has been to provide equitable access to quality higher education to the average Pakistani student,” he said.
On the second day, the discussion started on the Undergraduate Education Policy which is developed for introducing breadth and depth of the discipline along with focusing on developing communication skills of the students. The members have shared their reservations about some aspects of admission, courses, and operationalization. The Executive Director assured the members of the VC committee that their concerns will be placed before the Commission. The Executive Director, HEC stated that both the Undergraduate Education Policy as well as Policy on Ph.D. Programs were already deferred on July 15, 2021, until Fall 2022, and further guidance in this regard will be extended considering the decision of the Commission.
The presentation on revamping the curriculum of nursing and health sciences was shared by the VC of UHS, Lahore, and then discussion on Ph.D. The policy was initiated in the afternoon session of the second day. The concerns shared in earlier online meetings were discussed one by one and around 40 VCs shared their opinion. There were some misconceptions about admission, course work, a roadmap for M.Phil. /MS programs, and subject test. The moderator of the Group suggested due deliberation at the university level for deciding admission-related issues including admission with BS, the relevance of the subject test, comprehensive examination, and external evaluation.
On the third day, the briefings on Higher Education Development Program, various initiatives of the National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), initiatives for universities under Kamyab Jawan Program, Tree-10 bill, Framework for Online and Distance Learning Education, Amendments proposed to the Pakistan University Sports Board (PUSB), and Interventions required for improving undergraduate education employability”.
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Muneer Ahmed Mirjat is Director (Coordination), Higher Education Commission, Islamabad.
