Pressed for time: ‘Govt cannot phase out degree programmes on HEC’s time frame’

Higher education minister says authorities need to look at the available resources.

LAHORE: The provincial government will not be able to implement the Higher Education Commission's (HEC's) decision to phase out the BA and MA programmes in the given timeframe given. This was announced by Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani on Thursday.

He was speaking at a press briefing at the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) after a meeting to review the HEC’s letter to phase out the MA and two-year BA programmes by 2018. The minister said the meeting reviewed the capacity of Punjab to implement the HEC’s order. Raza said Thursday was the first meeting with all stakeholders to phase-out the two-year programme from universities and colleges. He said that the BA and MA programmes would be phased-out eventually, but not in the given timeframe.

The minister was accompanied by PHEC Chairman Dr Nizamuddin and Government College University Vice Chancellor Dr Hassan Amir Shah.



“We recognise that the current system is obsolete and needs replacement, but we also have to look at the available resources and need to define parameters”. He said the PHEC had already started the four-year BS programme at 26 colleges of the province.

“We have not gotten positive results due to the lack of resources such as faculty, infrastructure and labs,” he added.

However, the minister said a plan would be devised and colleges would be divided into categories and the new system would be implemented in phases. “We cannot implement it in one go across the province. “We need time and a final decision will be taken after getting recommendations of the committee.”

Replying to a question to phase-out the MA programme as there were four years to the HEC deadline, Dr Nizam said doing so would become problematic for BA students as they would be unable to continue their studies.

A letter was sent by the HEC on March 15 to remind degree-awarding institutions (DAIs) that the BA and MA programmes were to be phased-out as per a decision taken earlier. It asked them to comply with the orders of the commission and phase out the BA programme by 2018 and the MA programme by 2020.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2017.