HEC policy to overhaul university education

Objecting to new scheme, private university chancellors think it cannot be instated without prior planning

KARACHI:

The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), per its latest undergraduate policy, recently issued the credit and non-credit hours of practical learning, internship and General Education (GE) including thematic studies.

In a bid to develop the ability to write clearly and concisely, the policy states that students will now be required to undertake quantitative reasoning and expository writing courses. For practical learning, which is also mandatory, students will have the option to choose from entrepreneurship, youth club, or sports. Whereas, Pakistan Studies and Religious Studies, as part of social studies, will soon be made compulsory under the GE section.

In addition to that, the said policy has also termed internships mandatory for four and five-year degree programmes. However, they will be non-credited, and thus any internship scores will not be considered during the university grading process.

After consultation and approval from the concerned council, these changes will be incorporated into the syllabus of a few five-year professional graduate programmes, while the policy will be put into effect from the month of June.

Meanwhile, the Association of Private Sector Universities Pakistan (APSUP) has raised a few objections against the policy, claiming that it has been produced in haste. Apart from that, APSUP has also recommended taking all the stakeholders on board. “No pilot testing was conducted for this policy, nor has the HEC introduced any programmes for the training of teachers. While the undergraduate and Ph.D. policies, instead of being implemented phase-wise, were rolled out in the same academic year,” claimed HEC officials.

According to a study conducted by The Express Tribune on HEC’s new undergraduate policy, the Higher Education Commission has divided undergraduate degrees into five different types: The first category is a four-year Arts and Science BS (Bachelor of Studies). The second is a four-year professional degree (Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Bachelor Studies in Nursing). The third kind is a five-year professional degree (Bachelor of architecture, Bachelor of Eastern Medicine and Surgery, Bachelor of Homeopathic Medical Science, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Doctor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery/MBBS). The fourth is a four-year degree with the concerned council including agriculture, business studies, computer sciences, education and technology while the fifth kind is a two-year associate degree.

Per policy, in order to qualify for the BS degree, each student will be required to complete his or her 120 credit hours. For a course with three-credit hours, students will be required to study at least 40 courses during the four-year time.

The 120-credit hours will be divided into 30-credit hours per year and 15-credit hours per semester. Based on which, five courses, each of 3-credit hours will have to be opted for each semester. However, the first time, students with written permission will also have the liberty to enroll in more than five or fewer courses. The categories of the undergraduate degree are based on three components. The first is general education (GE); the second is concerned with the discipline while the third component will be based on practical learning.

These categories are further divided into sub-categories. An undergraduate student will mandatorily have to opt for two courses out of three vast disciplines (arts and humanities, national science, and social sciences) in the first category of GE.

Similarly, relevant Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies courses will also be a part of the GE in language skills and civilization section. While based on 120-credit hours, GE will account for 39-credit hours in four-year bachelor programmes. A total of 13-courses will be taught. As per the policy, a student will be required to undertake 13-courses of 39-credit hours during the first three or four semesters during graduation.

Failure in any of these courses until the beginning of the fourth semester will withhold the student’s promotion to the fifth semester. Moreover, every varsity will be bound to assign an academic advisor for the guidance of students. As per policy, practical learning with non-credit courses will be a compulsory part of the degree, and no degree will be issued without it. However, these courses being non-credit would not be part of the grading for the courses or activities.

As part of non-credit courses or activities, the students following the fourth semester will be bound to enroll in a nine-week internship. The students may apply for internships in government institutions, local government, autonomous institutions, government agencies, business enterprises, educational institutions, and NGOs.

The students will be required to opt for entrepreneurship, youth club, or sports facilities, offered by the varsities to the students as part of their practical learning. The varsities are thus required to set up an entrepreneurship lab, youth club, and sports club.

The lab will host lectures, team works, writing sessions, computational workshops, presentation sessions, fundraising events, startup events, and marketing events. Similarly, drama club, book reading club, university magazine and newspapers, university TV and radio station, debating club, and student association will be a part of the youth club. Students who would want to perform labs through sports activities would opt for sports activities.

Moreover, the policy also requires universities to issue a two-year associate degree to a student, who wishes to study only two-years of a four-year degree program. The APSUP entailing detailed objections wrote a letter to the HEC chief Dr Tariq Banori, maintaining that, seven different sessions of the association on the undergraduate policy have been conducted in Lahore, Peshawar, Bahawalpur, Sukkur, Karachi, and Quetta in the past two months. The sessions revealed unanimously, that the vision of internship was a part of the former HEC policy, yet it was not termed mandatory for students of each discipline.

An internship is a custom that cannot be termed mandatory yet has been made compulsory in the new policy, adding to the burden on the varsities. Furthermore, there is still some ambiguity around who reserves the authority to issue internship certificates, the host body or the varsity.

Likewise, the association maintained that with the present infrastructures most universities are unsuitable to impart practical learning. “It is not possible to immediately establish or functionalise a practical learning lab including entrepreneurship without trained staff,” the letter highlighted.

The letter further pointed out the ambiguity regarding 39-credit hours for GE courses. APSUP Chairperson Chaudhry Abdul Rehman, who is also a Superior University Lahore’s President, told The Express Tribune that they do not have objections on the policy, but the stakeholders were not taken on board during the policy formulation, therefore, it can lead to problem during the execution. “Private Universities are already facing problems due to Covid-19. Therefore, its implementation without any preparation, capacity building, HR support, or training is impossible. We are ready to support the HEC, but our reservations should be addressed first. The HEC has given a time limit until June for the implementation of the policy, which is impossible under all circumstances,” asserted Rehman.

On the other hand, Quaid-e-Azam University Vice Chancellor Dr. Muhammad Ali Shah, who is also a VC Committee Chief of public universities in Pakistan, severely criticised the policy. “The biggest flaw of the policy lies in barring varsities from granting admissions in the discipline. Will the university close its remaining disciplines if all the students opt for a single subject? It is an American model, which cannot be implemented in Pakistan. The varsities in Pakistan grant admission on the basis of pre-requisite education, therefore, we can’t endorse it,” he said.

Speaking further, Dr Shah also expressed his disapproval with HEC’s decision to let internships go ungraded. “The policy has removed if from the credit hours, which will not garner the interest of the students. Despite repeated attempts to discuss the matter with the HEC, Chairperson Dr Tariq Banori has not shown any interest and such is the attitude of the government too,” Dr Shah told The Express Tribune. “We are not willing to accept the policy,” he reiterated.