| HEC Issues New Policy Guidance for Universities’ Online, Hybrid Operations | HEC Issues New Policy Guidance for Universities’ Online, Hybrid Operations | <p style="text-align:justify;">Islamabad, November 26, 2020: The Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan has announced a new Policy Guidance for the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), following the Government's decision regarding continuation of education during the 2nd wave of COVID-19. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">As per the Government directions, all academic institutions shall be closed from November 26, 2020 until 24 December 2020. However, they shall continue to deliver education through online or hybrid means or through assigning homework (especially if there are problems of connectivity). The Winter Holidays shall be scheduled from December 25, 2020 to January 10, 2021, and all academic institutions shall remain closed during this period. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">Academic institutions are scheduled to open on January 11, 2021. However, a review meeting will be held during the first week of January 2021 to assess the situation, and authorise opening of academic institutions.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">In the light of the Government directions, the Vice Chancellors have been authorised to allow small groups of "essential" individuals on campus, subject to implementation of scrutiny mechanisms or safeguards. Only certain categories of students may be allowed on campus. These categories may comprise low income students who may have connectivity problems at home because of lack of access to the Internet or the availability of proper devices, foreign students, those PhD or MPhil students (or final year students) who need to use the laboratories to complete their thesis work, or third year or higher medical students who need to obtain clinical training. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The total number of the students permitted to come to campus should not exceed 30 per cent of the total enrollment, or a lower number if dictated by the campus conditions.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Similarly, the Vice Chancellors may require the faculty members to come to campus for delivering or preparing their online lectures.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">All the large examinations planned for December 2020 have been postponed, with exception of assessment examinations, such as MDCAT, other entrance exams, recruitment exams, or prescheduled small examinations (e.g., less than 30 students). These may be conducted, if absolutely necessary, with strict observance of all health and safety protocols. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">As for hostels, the new Policy Guidance says that the Vice Chancellors have the authority to allow limited occupancy of hostels, subject to the instructed restrictions. Only the students in the "essential" categories will be allowed. The total number of students shall not exceed 30 per cent of the design capacity of the hotels (or a small number if so dictated by health considerations). </p><p style="text-align:justify;">All SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) shall be implemented strictly and diligently. The universities will put in place appropriate measures including isolating hostel residents (i.e., treating the hostel as a safe bubble) to protect them from external infection. Besides, the universities shall draw up rules regarding the presence of faculty members or staff on campus. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">"All the Vice Chancellors and heads of institutions shall ensure that the flexibility granted by the government is exercised in a judicious manner, authorised at the highest level, and monitored and managed effectively and efficiently," reads the new Policy Guidance. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">HEC has also released Rs. 10 million each to all public sector universities to help them establish any supportive arrangements needed to improve the quality of the online education process. Besides, the universities may recruit senior, tech-savvy students to assist faculty members in technology related problems involved in online education.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Furthermore, HEC has constituted a COVID Response Oversight Committee to collaborate with the Vice Chancellors in their respective regions, clarify questions or concerns, share best practices, and oversee implementation. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The Committee is headed by Dr. Niaz Akhtar, Vice Chancellor Punjab University, and comprises Dr. Tabassum Afzal (for ICT), Vice Chancellor COMSATS University Islamabad, Dr. Aslam Uqaili, Vice Chancellor Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (for Sindh), Dr. Abid Ali, Vice Chancellor Peshawar University (for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Engr. Farooq Bazai, Vice Chancallor BUITEMS (for Balochistan), Dr. Kaleem Abbasi, Vice Chancellor AJK University (for AJK), and Dr. Naeem Khan, Vice Chancellor Baltistan University (for Gilgit-Baltistan). </p><p style="text-align:justify;">The Committee will also interact with the respective provincial governments to ensure synchronized and cooperative action. </p><p style="text-align:justify;">===============</p> | 27-11-2020 09:27:16 | <img alt="" src="/english/PublishingImages/ThematicImages/HEC%20ICON-15.png" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/news/news/Pages/New-Policy-Covid-19.aspx |
| 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 |