DNA

Islamabad, Aug 2: Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed has said that HEC will take forward the agenda of improving quality of teaching and research in higher education institutions and the universities will be encouraged and supported to play a proactive role for socio-economic growth of the country. 

During his first media briefing after assuming charge of the Chairman HEC, Dr. Mukhtar said HEC will bring together universities, research organisations and other government departments to jointly work on presenting solutions to the problems facing the country, especially water depletion and flooding, food security, climate change, and country’s security.

“Nations face adversities, however they strive to rise up. We together have to steer the country out of these problems by prioritising our objectives and synergising for sectoral development,” he emphasised. Stressing the need for being selective in areas for PhD studies, he said that the research carried out at universities and research centres must provide solution to local and national issues.

The Chairman pointed out that quality, governance and technology-readiness as the major challenges facing the higher education sector, and assured that HEC will put more efforts for continuous improvement in quality and governance. He warned that those universities will lag behind who ignore adapting to the needs of technological world.

He said HEC is committed to the mandate of enhancing access, improving quality and ensuring relevance, but added that HEC will emphasise care in expanding the higher education sector. He asserted that the government has shown its strong commitment to supporting the higher education sector despite challenges.

“I assure the Vice Chancellors, faculty, and students that HEC will facilitate all of you. And we will work together for development of higher education sector,” he said, affirming that HEC’s role as a regulatory body will be to streamline the processes and improve the quality standards.”

Dr. Mukhtar hoped that the public and private sectors will jointly work to enhance their contributions towards the development of Pakistan. The Chairman also dilated on strengthening academia-industry linkages, skill-based degree programmes, and media’s role in informing masses about educational and research opportunities.