The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued

focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.

Higher Education Commission of Pakistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Higher Education Commission of Pakistan

Chairman Dr. Javaid Laghari

Location Islamabad, Pakistan

Nickname HEC

Website www.hec.gov.pk

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), formerly the University Grant Commission, was
the primary regulator of higher education in Pakistan until its dissolving on April 5, 2011.[1] It
also facilitated the development of higher educational system in Pakistan. Its main purpose was
to upgrade universities in Pakistan to be centres of education, research and development.

The HEC has played a leading role towards building a knowledge based economy in Pakistan by
giving out hundreds of doctoral scholarships for education abroad every year.

Dr. Javaid Laghari was the last incumbent appointed HEC Chairman.
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
Contents
[hide]

 1 HEC Programs and Projects

 2 Praise of Higher Education Reforms
 3 Achievements
 4 Video Conferencing
 5 Allegations
 6 Dissolving
 7 See also
 8 References
 9 External links

[edit] HEC Programs and Projects

HEC main programs are following:

 Faculty development
 Curriculum revision
 Higher education infrastructure development
 Indigenous scholarships[2][3]
 Foreign scholarships[4][5]
 Patent filing support[6]
 Conference travel grants[7]
 Increase industry and university research collaboration
 Developing new technology parks

[edit] Praise of Higher Education Reforms

The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
There has been much praise of the higher education reforms under the leadership of Prof. Atta-
ur-Rahman,FRS, its former Chairman. Pakistan has also been given a number of prestigious
international awards for the remarkable transformation of the higher education sector.

Prof. Wolfgang Voelter (Tubingen University, Germany) in his article in Pakistan's leading
Daily Newspaper Dawn entitled "The Golden Age" writes “A miracle happened. The scenario of
education, science and technology in Pakistan changed dramatically, as never before in the
history of Pakistan. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Education recently
announced it as "Pakistan's golden period in higher education" [8].

A US educational expert Prof. Fred M. Hayward has also praised the reform process undertaken
by Pakistan: “Since 2002 a number of extraordinary changes have taken place. Over the last six
years almost 4,000 scholars have participated in PhD programs in Pakistan. More than 600
students have studied in foreign PhD programs. The Higher Education Commission instituted
major upgrades for laboratories and information and communications technology, rehabilitation
of facilities, expansion of research support, and development of one of the best digital libraries in
the region. A quality assurance and accreditation process was also established. Its successes have
been remarkable as the recurrent and development budgets increased 340 percent in real terms
from 2001 to 2005/06. By 2008, as a result of its policy and financial successes, most
universities had become strong proponents of the Higher Education Commission.Quality had
increased significantly, and several institutions were on their way to becoming world-class
institutions. Many expatriate Pakistanis returned from abroad with access to competitive salaries.
About 95 percent of people sent abroad for training returned, an unusually high result for a
developing country in response to improved salaries and working conditions at universities as
well as bonding and strict follow-up by the commission, Fulbright, and others.”[9]

Prof. Michael Rode, Former Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Science,
Technology and Development and presently heading a Network of European and Asian
Universities (ASIA-UNINET) writes: "The progress made was breath-taking and has put
Pakistan ahead of comparable countries in numerous aspects. To name just a few, the
establishment of a free access to scientific literature by high-speed Internet for all universities,
the thousands of promising young scientists who were granted PhD studies at top universities
abroad, the upgrade of research equipment accessible across the country and the programme of
establishing new universities of science and technology, including technology parks attracting
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
foreign investors, prove the efficiency and the long-term benefits for the country enabled by the
HEC's chairman.The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology has closely
monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion
that Prof Rahman’s policy and programme is a 'best-practice' example for developing countries
aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based
economy." [10]

Pakistan has won four international awards for the revolutionary changes in the higher education
sector brought about under the leadership of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman (Federal Minister),
Higher Education Commission. The TWAS (Academy of Sciences for the Developing World,
Italy)Award for Institutional Development was conferred on Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman at the 11th
General Conference of TWAS in October 2009 [11]. The Austrian Government conferred its
high civil award "Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande" (2007) on Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman for
transforming the Higher Education sector in Pakistan[citation needed]. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman
was also elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London)(2006) [12] and Honorary Life Fellow of
Kings College , Cambridge University (2007) [13] in recognition of his academic contributions
as well as his services to the higher education sector in Pakistan.

Nature, a leading science journal,has also written a number of editorials and articles about the
transformation brought about in Pakistan in the higher education sector under he leadership of
Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, former Chairman (Federal Minister), Higher Education Commission.[14]
[15][16][17][18]

In an article entitled "Pak Threat to Indian Science" published in the leading daily newspaper
Hindustan Times, India, it has been reported that Prof. C.N.R. Rao, Chairman of the Indian
Prime Minister's Scientific Advisory Council made a presentation to the Indian Prime Minister at
the rapid progress made by Pakistan in the higher education sector under the leadership of Prof.
Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Higher Education Commission. It was reported that as result of the
reforms brought about in Pakistan " Pakistan may soon join China in giving India serious
competition in science". “Science is a lucrative profession in Pakistan. It has tripled the salaries
of its scientists in the last few years.” [19]

After the (forced) resignation of Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, the performance of HEC is declining and
the culture of work is changing in HEC. An example of this is that HEC no longer publishes the
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
list of selected candidates for scholarship. It changed its web site layout and asks individuals to
provide their national ID before they can get their results. Before this, a complete list was
provided along with marks.[8]

[edit] Achievements
The creation of HEC has had a positive impact on higher education in Pakistan.

a) Established the finest Digital Library in Pakistan: Every student in every public sector
university today has access to 45,000 textbooks research monographs from 220 international
publishers as well as to 25,000 international research journals - regarded as one of the best digital
libraries anywhere in the world.

b) Tripled University enrollment from 135,000 in the year 2003 to 400,000 in 2008.

c) Promoted research, resulting in huge expansion of international research publications from

Pakistan from only 600 research papers /yr in 2003 to 4300 research papers in 2008.

d) During the 56 year period (1947–2003) not a single Pakistani university could be ranked
among the top 600 universities in the world. Today 5 of Pakistani universities are in this category
with the National University of Science and Technology standing at a very respectable number
350.

e) Four year undergraduate program introduced so that our degrees are internationally
recognized.

f) About 5000 Ph.D. level scholarships awarded for study in technologically advanced countries
(largest program in developing world) and some 3,000 indigenous Ph.D. scholarships have been
awarded. The world’s largest Fulbright Scholarship program (US $ 150 million) launched with
joint funding (HEC/USAID).

g) Fifty one new universities and degree awarding institutes and 18 campuses of existing
universities established during (2003–2008).
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
[edit] Video Conferencing
Amongst the objectives of this project a primary objective of introduction of Video Conferencing
facility is to enhance students teachers interaction through distance learning, bridge the gap of
good faculty, meet the shortage of faculty members at the universities located at far-flung areas
and ultimately to uplift the standard of education in Pakistan. HEC aims to give Pakistan a bright
future through a young, qualified and energetic generation.

In the 1st phase starting September, 2006 eminent scholars from Pakistan will deliver interactive
lectures on various topics and recorded lectures from foreign universities will be broadcasted.
The lectures delivered/broadcasted will be aimed to develop fundamental concepts, to enhance
the critical thinking for under-graduate and graduate students and to discuss cutting edge
technologies/research work in the fields of modern sciences for students and faculty members. In
the 2nd stage interactive lectures from foreign universities will be arranged. Nobel
Laureates/Eminent scientists/researchers will be invited to deliver lectures to share their
knowledge/research work. This program will continue and the remaining 32 universities in 2nd
phase will become part of the program.

Currently there are more than 65 sites which are operational all over Pakistan and availing this
facility for conducting lectures, meetings and other events etc. usman

[edit] Allegations
The current administration faces several allegations made by a number of MS/PhD students, who
claim that HEC, without a legal permission from the court, has placed their names on the Exit
Control List (ECL) and has declared them 'Defaulters', which is totally against the rule of law.[9]
This claim was challenged by HEC in the Supreme Court of Pakistan but was not urged by the
Chief Justice of Pakistan and the other two members of the Supreme Court[10] The panel issued
directions to the authorities concerned to initiate legal action against the HEC director for placing
the names of students on the Exit Control List (ECL) with the help of the Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA).
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
[edit] Dissolving
As of April 5 2011, the HEC was dissolved by the federal government. The main reason was due
to the unavailability of funds to sponsor foreign studies of students. The move was highly
criticised by many students and teachers across the country. In an article, the Pakistani scientist
Pervez Hoodbhoy express his critical views of the HEC and voiced the opinion that dissolving
the HEC appeared to be a good idea. He cited that the body had a less than stellar record and
spent money on various mega-projects that failed. However, he also said that despite his critical
views, the "instant dismemberment or serious disempowerment of the HEC is a recipe for
producing chaos" and the government was headed in the wrong direction. He argued that the few
checks and balances which are enforced by the HEC would disappear. "Creating another
bureaucracy or handing over the reins to existing provincial education bureaucracies, which are
even more myopic and less competent than those at the federal centre, will negatively impact the
quality of university education in Pakistan." He further went on to say that all academic
decisions would be allowed to be made by those who otherwise had little understanding of how
universities should function.[1]

………………………………………………………………………………………..

HEC: A gateway to superior Pakistan

If we glance through the history of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it is quite obvious that the changes that have
occurred over the years have created an agonising loss to the socio-economic, political and academic set-up of the
country. Changes add spice to life, but unfortunately, in Pakistan’s case, the spice has been a disaster. The recent
decision about the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) devolution has raised the eyebrows of many who are
worried about the country’s future.

HEC has been facilitating the development of higher education in Pakistan for the last one decade. Its main purpose
was to upgrade the universities to be centres of education, research and development. Needless to say, the
monitoring of the universities with special emphasis on quality assurance has raised Pakistan’s standing among the
international universities. The standardised curriculum, and research and development gave a hope to aim higher for
revolutionary changes in the education sector. Faculty development, curriculum revision, infrastructure
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
development, scholarships, industry and university research collaboration have created a competitive environment
among the universities. This approach has given a professional dimension to unveil new frontiers in Pakistan’s
education industry.

Almost 10 years of the Commission’s hard work, excellence and farsightedness has given great pride and hope to
Pakistan at a time when the country is in the middl of chaos and lawlessness, etc. For example, a noticeable increase
(600 percent) in scientific publications in international journals have introduced new Pakistani scholars to the world.
The university enrolment was 135,000 in 2003, which has been raised to 400,000 because of the Commission’s
effort. And now most have been included among the top 600 universities that is a real achievement. The introduction
of the four-year bachelor degree programme internationally recognised Pakistan’s degrees. -By Prof Dr Chaudhry
Abdul Rehman (The nation)

………………………………..

 The quality assurance frame-work

 Evidence based self evaluation is central to the internal and external review process
 External peer-review is employed to reach evidence based judgements and decisions
 National academic standards will be developed by the QAA to inform institutions,
reviewers and other stakeholders
 Implementation of already published “Good Practices for Quality Assurance for
Accreditation Councils in Pakistan16” by the HEC will be amplified by sets of
relevant guidelines.
16 Good

Internal Quality Assurance System (Self Assessment)

The internal QA process largely takes place within the academic programme/ department
itself. Generally, this process collects continued information in a systematic way about the
quality
being achieved. The Self Assessment reports are the corner stone of the whole QA system and
need
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
to be prepared by the institutions under the guidance provided by QECs and Manual of Self
Assessment published by HEC as first documented effort to implement the quality assurance
processes in the higher education institutions.
The Self Assessment report to be validated by peers is the backbone of the whole exercise of
Quality Assurance and Enhancement in academics12. Thus a standard Self Assessment report
should
motivate the internal QA by identifying its weaknesses and strengths, in practicing to be
prepared
for external assessment and informing the external evaluators about internal QA System. A self
assessment report should provide comprehensive information regarding objectives, structure and
content of the academic programmes, learning and teaching environment and curriculum
organization etc.
The processes of conducting Self Assessment (SA) of academic programmes are outlined in
the published Manual of Self Assessment which provides guidance for practicing self assessment
of
academic programmes of higher education institutions to maintain and improve the
qualstandards simultaneously. Self Assessment is an effective tool for academic Quality
Assurance and
provides feed back to administration to initiate action plans for improvement13ity

External Quality Assurance System

Accreditation and Peer-Review are two significant tiers of external QA System to work on
the base line information provided through process of internal QA. It is recommended for the
higher education institutions to compare their academic standards with equivalent national and
international standards through external evaluation with the objective of improvements in
quality.
In the national context, responsibility of developing and validation of Academic Standards
for the Institutional Accreditations in future comes under the scope of HEC through QAA while
the Programme Academic Standards should be developed by the respective Accreditation
Councils
in consultation with the HEC. For capacity building at institutional level to conduct this critical
process, QAA will work with national and international partners, line agencies, higher education
institutions, professional organizations and other stakeholders to develop National Academic
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
Standards to be used as reference standards for practical purposes and to evaluate the current
state
of quality as compared to global standards. The process of Intuitional Accreditation will be led
by
these National Academic Standards while the Programme Accreditation will largely be based on
academic standards developed by the respective Accreditation CoThe effectiveness and
relevance of these two types of academic standards will be assured by
the transparency and quality of the process involved in development of these standards. The
baseline information conveyed by the annual self evaluation and five year peer-review reports of
the
universities and other higher education institutions will be communicated by the Quality
Enhancement Cells (QECs) and filtered by the Quality Assurance Agency at HEC.
The proposed tiers and the actors of the External Quality Assurance System allencompassing
evaluation, review, transitional arrangements and accreditation with overlapping
functions and roles to be performed are the HEIs, the HEC, Accreditation Councils and the
QECs.
Whereas, QAA of the HEC and independent Accreditation Councils perform the functions of
external Reviewers and Accreditors, the role of the HEC is like “Accreditor of
Accreditors”.uncils.

The QECs facilitate and strengthen the process of internal review and self assessment to
provide baseline information for external quality assessment and for continuity of the processes
of
the Quality Assurance and Enhancement. The whole processes conducted by all the actors escort
the higher education system towards developing a “Culture of Quality” in Academics.
The practices of quality assurance while leading towards international compatibility, sketches
out a process of sharing information, providing feedback, building capacity, strengthening
partners
and developing commonly agreed sets of academic standards to be followed. The areas linked
with
each other provide strength to achieve the broader goals of quality assurance.

Expected Outcomes of Developing a Quality Culture

A number of significant outcomes provide motivation for development of a quality culture
The development of Quality Assurance system is a continuous process, thus a continued
focus on reviewing the development needs is required and HEC has to be more responsive to
these
needs.
In line with the world practices, landmarks of quality assurance such as Bologna Process and
Berlin Conference of late 2003, the emerging areas need to be highlighted. The major areas
carving
the future dimensions of QA in global context are
 Quality Culture
 Global Quality Label
 Internationalization of QA
The practitioners need to develop a clear understanding of these three main areas defining
future dimensions of QA. Once the concepts regarding these areas will be crystalline, the
processes
and procedures will come forward to practice these.
in higher education. Some of the expected outcomes of quality culture are enlisted below.
1. Increased academic autonomy of the universities from external evaluators
2. Satisfaction of increasing demand of accountability to justify the massive public
spending in higher education.
3. Increased scope to diversify income sources other than public funding on grounds of
quality provision.
4. Increased magnitude and level of contribution to national and regional economic and
social development building up a knowledge economy.
5. Increased internationalization level in higher education with greater frequency of
student and faculty mobility across border, provision of cross-border education
opportunities and partnership etc.
6. Enhances status in globalization arena of higher education to achieve the benefits of
competitiveness in international market with highly skilled professionals, research
and technologies.