The Commission discussed and conceptually approved the establishment of National Accreditation Council on Allied Health Sciences, and National Accreditation Council on Life Sciences. It advised that a detailed proposal be presented to the Commission in its subsequent meeting. The Commission also approved the bridging of old BA/BSc programme with BS (four years) programme. This would be possible upon completion of 15-18 credit-hour bridging course after two-year BA/ BSc.
A standard based four-year BEd (Hons) and two-year Associate Degree in Education was also ratified. The meeting also set Policy Guidelines for the implementation of uniform semester in the Higher Education Institutions of Pakistan. It also brought under discussion the HEC main criteria for admissions in MS/ MPhil in PhD Programmes and approved minor modifications therein.
Discussing the draft of the National Qualifications Framework of Pakistan (2015), the members agreed to keep the document live on HEC website for six months to invite stakeholders' input and comments. It would then be presented for final review. Earlier, the Chairman briefed the Commission about the HEC achievements during 2015. The members appreciated the government support in patronising the higher education sector.
Professor Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, Hassan Iqbal, Secretary Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Trainings, Fazal Abbas Maken, Secretary Ministry of Science & Technology, Dr Syed Atta-ur-Rehman, Secretary (Additional charge) Higher Education, Archives and Libraries Department, Government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar, Dr Shoaib Anwar, Additional Secretary Academic (HED) (Representative Government of the Punjab), Abdul Saboor Kakar, Secretary Secondary Education Department Government of Balochistan, Quetta, Engr Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, Vice Chancellor University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar, Engr Ahmed Farooq Bazai, Vice Chancellor, Balochistan University of IT, Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta, Professor Dr Masood Hameed Khan, Vice Chancellor, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Professor Dr Nilofar Shaikh, former VC SALU, Khairpur and Professor Dr Ghulam Raza Bhatti, Acting Executive Director HEC attended the meeting.-PR