Higher Education Commission Pakistan, after long debates & discussions eventually, has introduced and even implemented its Undergraduate and Graduate Education Policies which are effective and applicable from the fall 2023 semester onwards. HEC confidently believes that the implementation of these policies will make a significant contribution in enhancing the quality of undergraduate and graduate programmes across the country and is of the view that the successful realisation of objectives of both the policies depends upon committed support of the higher education community as a whole. I regret to quote that there are still several universities which are unable to implement the policies even after the enactment in 2023. On the other hand, there are some flaws, weaknesses or ambiguities in the policies, the clarification of which would have made the policies more rich, serious and perfect. Although, the Higher Education Commission, being the regulatory body, aims to provide a common framework, broader guidelines, and minimum standards for enhancing the quality and relevance of graduate education and research in the country and universities are free to develop their own regulations according to their respective Charters, own needs, and contexts as long as they comply with the minimum standards and criteria set by the HEC. But even then, it would be great to deliberate comprehensively regarding the inclusion of new items e.g. internship, capstone project, inter and intra-disciplinary admissions etc. Some of the issues that need serious consideration are as follows:
- Whether the failure of the previous policies are just because of the curriculum and lack of courses like internship/ field experience, capstone project? Do we have any statistics to show that the Degree(s) having courses like internships and projects in Pakistan have achieved their standard on international level?
- Whether an internship is like a training, a task base work or just like an assignment to complete? Is there any syllabus/ curriculum to teach for 3 credit hours internship course?
- How a student would manage rest of the classes (12-15 credit) of spring/ fall semester while on internship which has only three credit hours? And if the internship would be managed in summer, then how the result of spring/ fall semester would be announced without marking internship course? How would be the distribution of marks i.e. Quiz, Assignment, Mid, Final through site-supervisor and faculty supervisor? Also, whether each faculty supervisor will count three credit hours in his or her credit/ workload?
- What would be the maximum limit of supervision of internship and capstone project? Is there any remuneration/ honorarium for both of the supervisors?
- Is it possible to achieve the benefits of the Internship program (Gaining practical experience of working in a real work environment, learning how to deal with practical challenges, Developing communication and interpersonal skills, Developing positive professional relationships etc.) in just 40-50 working days of the internship period?
- Why the host institutions/ organisation would take the internship seriously without any benefit?
- Whether the supervision of university’s own project, capstone project or internship would be similar to MPhil/ PhD thesis supervision?
- What is the status of translation of the Holy Quran which is a mandatory subject for all undergraduate degrees? Why the subject has not been included in the new policy?
- What would be the ultimate/productive benefit for the HEI’s and students for offering/accepting an undergraduate/equivalent degree program with several combinations? And whether the HEI’s are bound to prepare the curriculum for each offering structure and also offer all combinations for the students in the admission advertisement. (need to be further elaborated or simplified to convey the idea)
- Does this policy allow MPhil leading to PhD degree prima facie, according to clause 3.1(ii) i.e. Students pursuing MS/MPhil studies and interested in continuing to PhD may be granted provisional admission upon satisfaction with the Admission Committee regarding Statement of Purpose and students’ commitment to the PhD program…….
HEC team and especially the Executive Director Prof. Dr. Zia ul Qayum is playing a key role for formulating and implementing reforms in the higher education and are very much aware about how vital are the quality-based education and research system in transforming the current higher education culture in Pakistan. I would like to request that either the HEC itself or Directors QEC and Directors Academics under supervision of HEC team, would initiate seminars, workshops and trainings at university level for the faculty and allied staff for the understanding and implementation of both the policies with letter and spirit. It is hoped that this effort will not be just a paper work like the previous operations, but the HEC by owning it, keep in constant contact with the universities to see the practical benefits of this policy in the society, Instead, the HEC may relinquish ownership of the policy after handing over it to the HEI’s. I would also request the government and the policy makers that once with sincere intention, give respect to the teachers and give them the status they deserve, you may not need more policies.
The author is a professor of Islamic Studies at Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan.
