Two committees formed to monitor private universities

These will ensure enforcement of codal requirements by universities

LAHORE: The Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) has constituted two committees for monitoring and evaluation of private universities. The committees will report on the quality and qualification of faculty and check whether private institutions are following codal requirements of their charter.

PHEC Chairman Dr Nizamuddin told The Express Tribune each committee consisted of six members who would visit 24 private universities across the province. He said each committee had three senior academicians as permanent members and. The remaining three were experts in their fields.

He said the aim was to identify and remove deficiencies at private institutions of higher learning. “Private universities are offering different programmes in various disciplines. It has become necessary to check the quality of education. The committees will see if the universities have appropriate facilities for the programmes.” Nizamuddin said.

General (r) Muhammad Akram Khan is the convener of one of the committees. Junaid Sarfaraz and Ikramul Haq are its other permanent members. Saleem Shuja, Waqar Mehmood and Fayyad Shah are the expert members.

General (r) Muhammad Aslam is the convener of the other committee. He, Rauf-i-Azam and Shoaib Aftab are among the committee’s permanent members. Shazia Qureshi, General (r) Adil and Abid Zaheer are the remaining members.

General (r) Aslam said the committees were part of the commission’s accreditation process. He said private universities would be given time to address deficiencies highlighted by the committees.

He said the permanent members had been tasked with reviewing facilities such as auditoriums, sports grounds and buildings. Expert members will evaluate degree programmes and availability of related facilities for those.

Aslam said the time allowed for a university for meeting the criteria could range between three and six months, until the next evaluation. “If a university does not address the committees’ concerns, commission would take action against it.”

In November, 2015, the PHEC had called a meeting of vice chancellors and rectors of 24 private universities on quality assurance.

The meeting, chaired by Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed, had identified four areas of concern to ensure high-standard education. These were the quality of students, the quality of faculty, the curricula and provision of modern physical, technological and learning infrastructure.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2016.