Action against substandard colleges in the offing

A roadmap has been prepared to raise the standard of higher education in the province

FAISALABAD: The Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) has announced a crackdown against substandard colleges which were fleecing students by charging an exorbitant fee.

The spokesperson for the higher education department said the roadmap has been prepared to raise the standard of higher education. “A number of reforms are made to raise the ranking of the public sector universities on an international level,” he said. “The government working to provide the opportunities of higher studies to youth close to their homes. In this regards, measures are being taken to expand the facilities of higher education.”

The spokesman added that that the promotion of meaningful and quality education was among the top priorities of the government. He said the community college system was being introduced in Punjab so that the youth could get better leaning in two years of education and then come to universities for higher education. He explained under the roadmap for the higher education, at least one university in each district would be on the top in the list of international ranking.

He said the universities would be funded according to their rankings. He added for raising the quality of education in universities, the education and research would be taken to the international level by acquiring the services of scholars. “Universities will take legal and administrative measures to stop the unauthorised affiliations of colleges. Colleges can be affiliated with the universities located in the same division.” He said the constitution of a separate body Financial Aid Authority was also under consideration to help intelligent, deserving and talented students acquire higher education.