ISLAMABAD-The Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan organized 6th meeting of


all the Accreditation Councils to discuss various accreditation issues pertaining to different


disciplines, universities and their campuses.


While chairing the meeting, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed stressed the need for close coordination and


joint effort to ensure quality of higher education in the country. “The two most important issues


facing the higher education sector are quality and governance in universities. We have to put


joint efforts to address these challenges,” the Chairman underlined.


He also urged the Accreditation Councils to avoid issuing conditional NoCs to universities or


their campuses to launch new programmes, as this practice risks future of students if the


University fails to meet the criteria. He also emphasized conducting joint review of programmes


by HEC and the respective Accreditation Council.


Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed said the world is opting for virtual facilities instead of building physical


laboratories, however the need for tangible facilities in Pakistan cannot be neglected. He said the


universities should be convinced to share facilities within their departments, as setting up


separate laboratories, libraries and other facilities for every department is impossible. “HEC has


spent Rs. 225 billion on building infrastructure in institutions for the last 12 years,” he said. He


urged the Accreditation Councils to address universities complaints about visit charges.


“The Accreditation Councils are professional bodies not meant for policing over universities but


to facilitate them.” Expressing concerns over shifting of medical colleges once again to annual


study system, he directed the PMDC to ensure implementation of semester system as required


internally. Underlining the significance of standardized training of Accreditation Councils, he


said that HEC may hire foreign experts to conduct trainings.


Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC chaired the meeting which was attended by Dr. Arshad Ali,


Executive Director HEC, Mr. Rafique Baloch, Director General Quality Assurance Agency


(QAA), Mr. Nasir Shah, Director QAA, and heads and representatives of all the Accreditation


Councils including Pakistan Engineering Council, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council,


Pakistan Veterinary Council, Pakistan Nursing Council, Pakistan Council for Architecture and


Town Planners, Pharmacy Council of Pakistan, Pakistan Bar Council, Pakistan Council for


Homeopathy, National Council for Tibb, National Agriculture Education Accreditation Council,


National Business Education Accreditation Council, National Computing Education


Accreditation Council, and National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education.

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