HEC to equip 600 govt colleges with broadband internet

Students in Pakistan will have access to a digital library and archives.

Video conferencing is utilised in the field of telemedicine and agriculture field research. PHOTO: FILE

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has announced its plans to provide broadband internet connectivity to 600 government colleges across the country, reported Propakistani.pk on Tuesday. This plan will be executed by provincial governments, while the HEC will remain the core facilitator.


Currently, there are 183 higher education institutions throughout the country with broadband internet connectivity.

After this plan is implemented, students in Pakistan will have access to the HEC maintained digital library and archives.

The Research Repository, containing more than 6,680 Pakistani PhD theses in digitised form, with a plagiarism eradication tool, has been provided to all Higher Education Institutes. Moreover, the HEC has established a computerised system of document attestation with more than 200,000 educational documents attested each year.


Commenting on these achievements, HEC Chairman Dr Javaid R Laghari said universities are the most important producers of knowledge, which is the driving force for prosperity and improved standard of living.

He said that video conferencing facility has been provided at 79 sites having footprints in 32 cities throughout the country. The video conferencing facility is not only being used for interactive meetings and lectures delivered under the Virtual Education Programme Pakistan, but it is being exhaustively utilised in the field of telemedicine and agriculture field research. So far, more than 2,554 academic activities, including workshops, presentations, PhD defense, and lectures have been covered through this innovative and modern facility.

Pakistan: a role model

Dr Laghari remarked that according to the World Economic Forum 2013, Pakistan’s score on the higher education indicator of the Global Competitiveness Index surged significantly ahead, which is a clear manifestation and recognition of the fact that Pakistan’s higher education sector has become a role model for the developing countries.

Recently, the HEC and Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom have agreed to benefit from each other’s experience in the field of information and communication technology for proliferation of ICT in Pakistan.
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