| VCs Committed to Deterring Disruption in Education as COVID-19 Resurges | VCs Committed to Deterring Disruption in Education as COVID-19 Resurges |
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, November 18, 2020: The Vice Chancellors of all
universities across the country have reiterated their commitment to ensure
adherence to the SOPs and government guidelines in view of the situation
evolving out of the COVID-19 resurgence in the country. The 34<sup>th</sup>
Vice Chancellors Committee meeting held online on Wednesday was attended by a
large number of Vice Chancellors and Rectors.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;">The university heads reviewed the situation on campuses with
regard to the COVID-19, especially in the perspective of the feared second wave
of the pandemic. They said that the universities have taken a number of steps
to cope with the situation, including strict enforcement of SOPs on campuses,
reducing the numbers of students in classrooms and hostels, and shift to hybrid
modes of instruction. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;">“In fact, while the adherence to SOPs has dropped
significantly in most other public places, universities have tried hard to
maintain their level of vigilance and provide good examples for others,” said
the Vice Chancellors. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;">They expressed their total commitment to adhering to the
guidelines issued by the NCOC (National Command and Operation Centre) and the
health authorities. Majority of the Vice Chancellors said that they can switch
to online or hybrid instruction, and limiting those who are allowed to enter
the campus, in case the re-emergence of the virus requires curtailment of
public interaction. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;">The meeting also discussed other options for action,
including enhancing counselling services for students as well as the general
public, sharing of information and technical resources, and mutual learning
from best practices. They also demanded that PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority) arrange better data packages for students and faculty members in
order to facilitate online interaction and instruction.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;">During the meeting, Chairman HEC Tariq Banuri apprised the
university heads of the decisions made in the last NCOC meeting. He emphasized,
“We need to do the best we can to deter any disruption in the education system
being caused by the situation evolving due to the COVID-19 recurrence.” He
stressed that the universities need to prepare and look ahead as to how they
can deal better any evolving situation. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span style="color:#1f497d;">===============</span></p> | 19-11-2020 11:02:05 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/COVID-19-Resurges.aspx |
| HEC Awards 10 Projects worth Rs. 150 Million for Research on COVID-19 | HEC Awards 10 Projects worth Rs. 150 Million for Research on COVID-19 | <p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, November 11, 2020: In response to COVID-19 crisis, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) launched a focused Rapid Research Grant (RRG) in April 2020 to engage academia in research around the clinical management of this epidemic. The grant is aimed to encourage academic research to strengthen clinical management or public health response against this virus.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Under the specialised research initiative, potential project proposals were invited to contribute to the much-needed understanding of coronaviruses -- the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and COVID-19.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Considering the time-crunch, a specialised panel was constituted and tasked to complete the shortlisting in 3-4 weeks. More than 300 applications were received for this grant. After independent reviews, 58 proposals were shortlisted based on already announced eligibility criteria and other necessary requirements. Later, these proposals were jointly reviewed by experts of Medical and Biological Sciences, Engineering and Technology and finally 10 quality projects made it to the last stage after rigorous scrutiny.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The budget for each of RRG award is up to a maximum of Rs. 15 million (USD 100,000) with a maximum project duration of 12 months. These research projects offer a variety of pragmatic solution-oriented research, ranging from early detection diagnostic kits to immune response and understanding the virus behaviour. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The proposals from 10 universities have been finalized. The University of the Punjab won two grants -- one for an indigenous, low-cost production of ultra-pure Taq Polymerase and PCR mix for COVID-19 clinical diagnostic kits, and the other for development of a reliable, economical and high throughput serodiagnosis method for early detection of COVID-19.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">COMSATS University Islamabad has won the grant for development of RT-LAMP Assay for early detection of COVID-19, while National Textile University, Faisalabad research will focus on development of bioactive hospital textiles and protective suits against viruses and bacteria by immobilisation of nanomaterials. The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore has won the research grant for epidemiological disease modelling and molecular surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, while DOW University of Health Sciences, Karachi will be working on IVIG production from convalescent plasma of COVID-19 survivors, a low risk, high efficiency passive immunisation strategy against SARS-CoV-2. Interestingly, the test results of DOW university research are already very promising. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Other project winners include the University of Health Sciences, Lahore (Immunological Virology and Genetic Basis of COVID-19 Patients), Lahore University of Management Sciences (Mapping Immune Response to SARS-COv2 using a multidisciplinary approach), Aga Khan University, Karachi (Phylo- and immuno- dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Pakistan: relating COVID 19 disease severity in with viral diversity) and Health Services Academy (HSA), Islamabad (Computational Modelling for COVID-19 Epidemic in Pakistan: Predictive Modelling of Disease Morbidity, Mortality and Assessment of Demands on the Intensive Care Units).</p><p style="text-align:justify;">To ensure high quality of research, faculty members from these universities were encouraged to collaborate with private sector and industry, both within and outside Pakistan, as needed. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">HEC funded thousands of research projects in the past, and this has led to more than 20,000 research articles published in recognised journals last year. With provision of RRGs, HEC hopes that academic researchers will come forward to contribute to better health systems coping with real-life challenges. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 11-11-2020 09:40:21 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/Projects-COVID-19.aspx |
| University Heads Resolve to Maintain Vigilance to Contain COVID-19 Spread | University Heads Resolve to Maintain Vigilance to Contain COVID-19 Spread | <p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, October 29, 2020: In view of the prevailing apprehension of COVID-19 resurgence, the Vice Chancellors of all the public and private universities have requested the government to provide a special COVID package for universities to enable them to implement the required SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) effectively and prevent any outbreaks of the pandemic on campuses.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The university heads met online to review the compliance of 'COVID-19 health and safety protocols' and share the best practices and innovative measures they have introduced to protect the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff against the spread of COVID-19 at their institutions.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Addressing the meeting, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Tariq Banuri expressed his gratitude for the tremendous leadership demonstrated by the Vice Chancellors in this regard. He said that while the government and HEC had issued comprehensive guidelines, the real test was in the field, and the situation remained under control in most campuses because of the timely and innovative approach taken by university leaders.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Vice Chancellor University of Punjab, Dr. Niaz Akhtar elaborated the detailed actions taken to prevent any outbreaks and to isolate and treat any incident. He said that the most critical action was to impress upon all members of the university community the importance of observing basic safety protocols, namely wearing a mask at all times, hand washing, and maintaining proper social distance. The university had to support this behaviour by proper observation and surveillance, immediate isolation and medical attention for suspected cases, use of hybrid teaching methods (through financial incentives), giving students the option of attending classes online, and introducing safety measures in dining and other services.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Other Vice Chancellors shared information on the innovative practices they have introduced on their campuses. These include the development of COVID testing expertise in university labs at University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, the use of spillover classrooms to reduce density at Peshawar University, providing counselling for students to cope with the prevailing uncertainty, introducing incentives for complying with SOPs at Lahore University of Management Sciences, the use of coloured cards for students attending morning and afternoon classes at Karakoram International University, taking advantage of the digitization of processes at Sargodha University to minimise the need for direct contact, and teaching students about COVID and it's likely future trend at different universities. Most universities have introduced a rotation policy to reduce the density of students on campus. They have also developed strategies to minimise the risk of outbreaks in hostels, classes, buses, canteens, and dining halls.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Mr. Banuri emphasised the importance of maintaining strict vigilance in execution of SOPs at a time when the virus was re-emerging. Appreciating the range of innovative actions, he advised VCs to keep in touch with one another and share their best practices. He stressed the need for ensuring quick response in case of detection of the virus.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">"The key strategy, i.e., the implementation of SOPs in letter and spirit, is most essential", he underlined. He also urged the Vice Chancellors to work on contact tracing in case any case erupts on a campus and adopt the smart lockdown strategy in affected classes or departments. "I am mindful of the fact that closures any longer will put extra burden on the students already grappling with the consequences of the lockdown earlier in the year".</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Highlighting the importance of digitization of various university processes, he said that the universities must continue to build capacity to cope with future outbreaks. He stressed the need for providing COVID-related information as well as counselling to the students. "We have to make the students our partners in this struggle." He said the HEC will continue to coordinate with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the Ministry of Information Technology to improve internet connectivity for faculty and students.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The university heads expressed satisfaction with the cooperation and support provided by the district administration and health authorities. They shared the results of random tests conducted on their campuses, and how the measures introduced to deal with any cases of virus contraction.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The Vice Chancellors reiterated their resolve to abide by the government and HEC guidelines to prevent COVID-19 resurgence.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 04-11-2020 10:46:48 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/Vigilance-COVID19-Spread.aspx |
| National Technology Council Committed to Improving Quality of Technology Education | National Technology Council Committed to Improving Quality of Technology Education | <p style="text-align:justify;"><img src="/english/news/news/PRPics/NTCC.JPG" alt="" style="margin:5px;" /></p><p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, October 28, 2020: The National Technology Council (NTC) is committed to working for the betterment of engineering technologists and improving the overall standards of technology education and curriculum in the light of contemporary challenges.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">This was stated by Chairman NTC Imtiaz Gilani while chairing the 6<sup>th</sup> NTC meeting held at the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Chairman HEC Tariq Banuri also attended the meeting through video link. The meeting was also attended by newly appointed members, including Vice Chairman Prof. Dr. Muhammad Mukhtar and other ex-officio members.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The Chairman NTC said that the significant issues of engineering technologists needing immediate attention include approval of their service structure. "The service structure needs to be based on a vertical growth, opportunities to compete for research, and technologically oriented positions in the country, including entrepreneurship in technologies relevant domains." </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The NTC meeting participants appreciated HEC's initiative for announcement of 200 scholarships for technologists. They took important decisions with regard to streamlining academic and governance activities at NTC. A committee was constituted to make the technology education in line with the HEC's Undergraduate Education Policy 2020. It was also decided to recommend the inclusion of one representative of technologist associations as the Council Member. "If the associations fail to recommend one person and give more than one name, the Chairman NTC may appoint the most competent and well-versed nominee as Member." </p><p style="text-align:justify;">With a realisation that the engineering technologists are not getting due recognition in Pakistan as compared to the developed world, where technologists have an edge of practical hands-on approach to problem-solving, the NTC Chairman and members expressed a resolve to take tangible measures for betterment of engineering technologists in the country. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The meeting concluded with a resolve that NTC must go with its broader dimensions in emerging technologies benefitting humanity and boosting the national economy.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 28-10-2020 10:45:06 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/NTCC.aspx |
| 91 Sri Lankan Students Win Scholarship to Study in Pakistan | 91 Sri Lankan Students Win Scholarship to Study in Pakistan | <p style="text-align:justify;"><img src="/english/news/news/PRPics/Picture.jpg" alt="" style="margin:5px;" /></p><p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, October 27, 2020: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has awarded Allama Iqbal Scholarship to 91 Sri Lankan students for Fall-2020 / Spring-2021 sessions to pursue higher education in Pakistani universities, under Pak-Sri Lanka Higher Education Cooperation Programme.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The selected students have started arriving in Pakistan and so far 27 students have reached Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and Sukkur to join their respective universities. As many as 525 Sri Lankan students had applied for Medical, Engineering, BS, MS, and PhD programmes in response to HEC announcement for Fall 2020/Spring 2021 admissions.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">A selection board was constituted for online interviews, which comprised officials from HEC Pakistan, Pakistan High Commission (PHC) Colombo and University Grants Commission (UGC), Sri Lanka. A total of 172 applicants were shortlisted for interview, out of which 91 students have been finally selected.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Spread over five years, Allama Iqbal Scholarship provide an excellent opportunity for 1000 Sri Lankan students to visit Pakistan and pursue undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degree programmes in Engineering Sciences, Basic and Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The scholarship aims to promote an effective exchange of knowledge and better understanding of cultures and tradition between Sri Lankan and Pakistani students. Allama Iqbal Scholarships are part of HEC's internationalization initiative to encourage international students to study in Pakistan.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The Sri Lankan students will study in their respective programmes in COMSATS University, Islamabad; Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi; Government College University, Lahore; Hazara University, Mansehra; Islamic International University, Islamabad; Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar; Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro; NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi; National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad; Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad; Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur; University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila; and University of the Punjab (UoP), Lahore.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 27-10-2020 11:27:50 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/Sri-Lankan-Students.aspx |
| HEC makes and improves policies on basis of evidence: Chairman HEC | HEC makes and improves policies on basis of evidence: Chairman HEC | <p style="text-align:justify;"><img src="/english/news/news/PRPics/PressConference.jpeg" alt="" style="margin:5px;" /></p><p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, October 24, 2020: Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Tariq Banuri has said that HEC has always protected rights of teachers and students, with the goal of continuous enhancement in the quality of education.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">"We are reviewing all past policies for flaws or redundancies in order to improve, modify, amend, or revoke, as needed, but all this has to be based on evidence, analysis, and a proper rationale, not random observation. That is the approach we have established at at HEC."</p><p style="text-align:justify;">These remarks were made after the Chairman met with a few representatives of university teachers' association who were protesting outside HEC. He said that HEC has been continuously devising and developing policies for all the stakeholders, after due consultation with experts from all across Pakistan and nothing is prepared or finalized in haste. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The meeting was also attended by Executive Director HEC Dr. Shaista Sohail, Member (Operations and Planning) Dr. Fateh Marri, Adviser (Administration and Coordination) Mr. Awais Ahmad and Director General (R&D) Dr. Zain ul Abdin.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">"Every policy has gone through a number of phases, namely identification of a problem (often by aggrieved persons), collection of evidence, in-house analysis, review by external experts, and thorough consultation with faculty members, university leaders, and other professionals from all across Pakistan. This leads to drafting of detailed proposals, with proper justifications, for the consideration of HEC's governing body. The Commission then takes appropriate decisions after considering all aspects of the issues, and on the basis of the best interest of students, teachers, and the society in general," the Chairman said.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The main concerns raised by the delegation pertained to the service conditions and benefits of university teachers. These had earlier been discussed with the representative associations of both TTS and BPS faculty members, both of which had been assured of HEC's commitment to and sympathy for the demands of the teachers. It was also emphasized that these matters had long-term implications, and policies and structures could be modified only after due deliberation, and never in haste. He urged university teachers to make constant improvement in teaching and research their foremost cause.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The faculty members were assured that all their legitimate concerns would be taken care of. They were also informed that one of the fundamental principles of HEC's policy reform was that no change would be applied retroactively, and that all benefits achieved by anyone on the basis of an old policy would be respected under the new policy. Only their future actions will need to conform to the new policy. This principle was introduced to protect the interests of the faculty. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">This principle was central to the new HJRS policy, and all progress achieved by faculty members until June 2020 would be acknowledged and evaluated under the old policy framework. HEC will once again clarify to the universities that all papers published before June 2020 would be evaluated in accordance with the old system, and will be counted towards faculty benefits, and that only the papers published after June 30, 2020 would be evaluated under the new policy. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The faculty members asked for a relaxation of the requirement of post-PhD experience for purposes of promotion. It was explained that the policy could be reviewed only on the basis of proper evidence, and a justifiable rationale that relaxation of the policy would not affect the quality of education. In May 2020, HEC had requested FAPUASA to provide such evidence. The faculty representatives offered to collect the statistical data and evidence and submit a written rationale. A deadline of 31 March 2021 was agreed for the review of the policy on the basis of the evidence and rationale, and that the existing policy would be suspended until this deadline. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Similarly, faculty members asked for a relaxation of the minimum qualifications required for appointment as a lecturer or assistant professor. Their argument was that people of the requisite qualifications were not available in Balochistan. It was agreed that HEC will convene a meeting with the Vice Chancellors of universities in Balochistan within the next two weeks, to which representatives of FAPUASA will also be invited. The meeting will review the recruitment record and also the arguments in favor of and against minimum educational qualifications of new faculty members. The Association will assist by sharing data in support of their assertion that there is dearth of MPhil/MS in Balochistan requiring relaxation of MS qualification for appointment as Lecturers and Assistant Professors in universities in Balochistan. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">FAPUASA representatives also demanded the enactment time scale promotion policy for BPS faculty members. The Chairman said that this issue had also been agreed with representatives of the BPS faculty. He said that as a regulatory authority, HEC was equally mindful of the concerns of BPS as well as TTS faculty. To resolve the issue of time scale promotion, it is necessary to prepare comprehensive service statutes for BPS faculty members, after weighing their full implications. The representatives of BPS faculty members had already been asked to propose their concrete recommendations regarding these statutes. The same offer was made to FAPUASA. These recommendations will be reviewed and analyzed as per HEC's procedures and submitted to the Commission for consideration at its 39th meeting scheduled in March 2021. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The delegation raised a number of issues pertaining to TTS faculty members, especially to ensure that there was no discrimination between various faculty members. The issues raised were: (i) inadmissibility of honorarium, (ii) exemption from working on the administrative posts, (iii) one-time waiver for tenure track to allow faculty not covered under 6-9 period under the new policy, (iv) exclusion of additional publication requirement during the extended tenure period, (v) implementation and endorsement issues, (vi) uniform application of early tenure once in a career, and removal of ban imposed on CUI on TTS recruitments, and endorsement of faculty. These had already been discussed with representatives of the TTS faculty association. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">However, in the spirit of dialogue and inclusion, It was agreed that HEC will convene a joint meeting with representatives of both the associations during the 3<sup>rd</sup> week of November to address the question of discrimination between different faculty members. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">It was also emphasized that HEC policy was to ensure that faculty members should not be penalized on account of delay/other considerations on part of university in the tenure and selection/promotion process. Backlog of Comsats University's TTS endorsement cases will be cleared within a fortnight and an exclusive meeting will be held with new Rector CUI during next week to review the recruitment issues. However, the University will be allowed fresh recruitments only when its system is put in order.</p><p style="text-align:justify;"> </p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 27-10-2020 11:24:44 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/improves-policies.aspx |
| BPS Faculty Delegation Calls on Chairman HEC | BPS Faculty Delegation Calls on Chairman HEC | <p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, October 21, 2020: A delegation of All Pakistan Universities BPS Teachers Association (APUBTA) called on Chairman HEC Tariq Banuri at the HEC Secretariat and apprised him about the problems and challenges faced by the BPS faculty of public sector universities.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The meeting was also attended by Executive Director HEC Dr. Shaista Sohail, Member (Operations and Planning) Dr. Fateh Marri, Adviser (Administration and Coordination) Mr. Awais Ahmed, and Director (Quality Assurance) Mr. Aqeel Akhtar Khan.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The APUBTA representatives said that BPS faculty members comprise 88 per cent of the entire faculty in public sector universities, but were facing a systematic and multi-faced discrimination. They demanded that HEC should set up a service structure for BPS faculty, including promotion rules, performance-based incentives, and relaxation in the post PhD experience. They said that BPS faculty is laboring under a sense of deprivation and demotivation because of the absence of such rules, inadequacies in benefits, and the burden of additional administrative work.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Chairman HEC assured the delegation that HEC's role is to serve all faculty members, both BPS and TTS. He said that this was the first time that they had approached HEC, and that HEC will work closely with them to resolve the problems they faced, in order to promote the quality of teaching and research on an equitable basis. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Mr. Banuri asked them to translate their demands into a concrete proposal for the formulation of draft BPS Statutes. At the request of the Association, it was agreed that HEC will obtain the services of a qualified expert in administrative law to provide technical assistance to the Association for the drafting of the statutes. The HEC secretariat will review and refine the proposals before submitting their recommendations to the Commission for a decision. This work could be completed within a period of three months.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The Chairman also urged them to undertake consultations provide ideas on other critical issues, including the challenge of bringing about a convergence between the TTS and BPS into a single system, and how to encourage the best people to adopt teaching as a profession.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">On the issue of post-PhD experience, the Chairman requested Association members to provide concrete data so that a decision could be made after considering all relevant factors. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The APUBTA members expressed strong support for the range of initiatives introduced by the HEC to enhance the quality of education and research, including the new policies for undergraduate and graduate education, the new system for financing and promotion of research, and the new classification of research journals. </p><p style="text-align:justify;"> </p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 21-10-2020 11:16:32 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/BPS-Faculty-Delegation.aspx |