Govt Committed To Improve College Education Quality

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2020 ) :Punjab Higher Education Minister Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz said on Wednesday that government was committed to improve quality of college education at par with global standards.

Chairing 'Stakeholder Conference on Higher Education Reforms' organized by the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) here at University of Engineering and Technology (UET), he added, "For this, we have introduced qualitative reforms in this sector." PHEC Chairman Prof. Dr. Fazal Ahmad Khalid, Director Public Instruction (DPI) Colleges Jahangir Ahmad, vice-chancellors from 26 public sector universities and principals from 773 public sector colleges of Punjab attended the conference aimed at garnering the constructive feedback on issues related to quality in higher education, effective management, coordination, and government policies on higher education.

Raja Yassir clarified the misconceptions being created in social media and other public circles, saying that colleges offering two-years degree programmes across the province were being renamed as Community College, however, no structural or administrative changes being introduced. "No public sector college is being handed over to Board of Governors or getting privatized. Change in nomenclature will neither increase tuition fees nor will affect the placement of college teachers," he added.

The minister said that colleges would be affiliated with universities which would be responsible for the academic matters, however administratively, colleges would fall under the domain of HED, asserting that public sector colleges offering four-year degree programmes would be renamed as graduate colleges whereas those offering two-year degrees as community colleges. At least one college each for boys and girls in every district would be the graduate college that would be affiliated with the relevant district or divisional university.

Raja Yassir Humayun said, "Our curricula, in vogue in colleges, is lacking skills necessary for employability in the market, and the community colleges model will equip students with market-driven skills along with theoretical knowledge which will widen their career prospects." He said that reforms were aimed at bringing quality to college education which was an important stakeholder of the higher education system.

He emphasized the need to improve the capacity of college teachers through training programmes organized by PHEC.

To a question, he assured to empower the principals of public colleges by increasing the funds, providing human resources, and infrastructure in the colleges, adding that government also introduced an automated, transparent and objective mechanism for the transfer/posting, while promotion policy of college faculty to grade 21 was also being formulated.

On this occasion, PHEC Chairman Prof. Dr. Fazal Ahmad Khalid shared his vision, mission, and future roadmap, saying that PHEC aimed at facilitating and regulating higher education to ensure standards, quality of education and building institutions to promote teaching excellence, research and innovation in Punjab.

"We are committed to increase access and ensure quality in higher education, promote relevant research in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), promote faculty development programmes, develop employability skills, ensure good governance and strengthen industry-academia linkages. Our priorities align with National Education Policy 2018, and HEC Policy on access, quality, relevance, and equity," he claimed.

He mentioned that college sector had been neglected in the past, however PHEC in cooperation with Higher Education Department (HED) of Punjab was now paying attention to this sector. "We are addressing problems and challenges of college education and ensuring that our college education meets the global standards, and this conference also aims at taking stakeholders on board and get their suggestions," he added.

He maintained that future roadmap of PHEC included various new initiatives such as establishment of new universities in the province, Punjab academy of Higher Learning and Research, Punjab Research Fund, training programmes, and local and foreign scholarships.

Earlier, a separate discussion with vice-chancellors of the public sector universities was arranged at Syndicate Room of UET, Lahore, where Punjab Minister for Higher Education and PHEC Chairman discussed with vice chancellors, various issues related to expansion and implementation of Community Colleges in Punjab. They also reviewed the prevailing affiliation structure, ranking, classification and automation of public sector colleges in Punjab.