Over a period of two decades, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) introduced various policies to enhance the quality of graduate programs in Pakistan. More or less, these policies were focused on program-level minimum criteria, such as qualification, entry test, CGPA, CH, coursework, publication, dissertation, supervisory load and criteria, and faculty requirements. Meanwhile, HEC also issued several supplementary notifications elaborating on the given criteria in pieces. Despite this, the worth of graduate education has always been a matter of concern. Lastly, HEC issued its policy on PhD Program in 2021; however, it received little support from academia across the country due to disagreement with several aspects of the policy. Many felt that the policy was too focused on coursework and not on research. Despite extensive discussions at the institutional level, various VC forums, and technical experts' committees, a consensus could not be developed. Learning through the experience, the Chairman HEC decided to review the policy afresh through feedback from the entire academia. As a result, the HEC introduced the revised Graduate Education Policy-2023 (GEP-2023).
Click here to download Graduate Education Policy-2023 (GEP-2023)