2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
Title: -
ISBN : 9780974211428
Quality of International Education in the Accreditations Councils
and in the Private Sector Universities of Pakistan
ABOUT AUTHORS
Mr. Umar Nawaz Kayani
Assistant Director (A&A)
Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad Pakistan
Tel # +92-51-90400914/ +92-0333-5547707
Email: ukayani@hec.gov.pk
Mr. Fida Hussain
Director General (A&A)
Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad Pakistan
Tel # +92-51-90400900
Dr. Farrukh Nawaz Kayani
Assistant Professor
COMSATS Institute of Information & Technology,
Islamabad Pakistan
Tel # +92-347-5342530
Email: farrukhkayani@comsats.edu.pk
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Cambridge, UK
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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference
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Quality of International Education in the Accreditations Councils and in the
Private Sector Universities of Pakistan
ABSTRACT
The Accreditation & Attestation is a part of Quality Assurance which is a key to the development
and progress of Higher Education. This which leads towards Accreditation of Higher Education
Institutions in the right direction not only to build stronger economies but also to create the
relevant knowledge capital for our socio-economic revival. The accreditation and attestation is a
part of quality which is a continuous process of improvement. The Attestation and Accreditation
of Quality Assurance was set up in May 2000 as a top most agenda of the Higher Education
Commission Pakistan. The missioni of A&A was to develop a system relevant to national need,
assure the quality of educational experience in Higher Education Institutes in comparison to
International Standards and to enable the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to demonstrate
excellence in teaching, research and learning.
The issue of setting up the uniform standards of quality across the professions i.e. Engineering
field, Medical field, Business Administration etc. is a complex issue to be dealt with. Various
accrediting bodies are working in all over the world to deal with the quality assurance of
professional education in their respective areas. Their demographic features are different thus
the rules of these professional bodies vary from each other and these are normally set by the
government.
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Introduction
The strategic plan 2001-2004 and the National Education Policy 1998-2010 of the Government
of Pakistan stresses upon the need of education and the investment in public and private sector
universities. It is a harsh reality which needs to be swallowed that the public sector is not coping
up with the needs of stakeholders. Due to this the Government of Pakistan has developed liberal
and friendly policies towards the establishment of private sector universities.
Since October 1999, 70 new private sector universities have been established. It is record
breaking history since after the independence of Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission of
Pakistan has formulated the guidelines for the establishment of a new university or an institution
of Higher Education.
The limit of the document is confined to provide the guidelines, which have been prescribed by
the Federal Government for the establishment of Pakistani Institutes as necessitated by the
Chancellors Committees in May 2004.
Attestation & Equivalence Of Degrees
The attestation of degrees/transcripts and diplomas awarded by the chartered universities/degree
awarding institutions of Pakistan both in public and private sector was transferred to the Higher
Education Commission by the Government of Pakistan in May, 2000.
Equivalence means that the studies undertaken in foreign educational institutions or
degrees/diplomas obtained are regarded as equal to corresponding degrees/diplomas gained in
native educational institutions. To find similar and matching systems of education in various
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countries is very difficult but after having developed a mechanism of equivalence, the term
implies that there is reasonable measure of similarity and commonality between the two courses
of studies and gratitude entitles its holder to rights enjoyed by those who have completed their
grades successfully at local institutions.
Equivalence & Accreditation Committee
The Higher Education Commission has established the Equivalence and Accreditation
Committee in order to consider the cases for Equivalence and attestation of foreign and local
Universities. The committee consists of following members:
Chairman HEC (Chairman of the Committee)
Executive Director, HEC
Member HRD & SP, HEC
Chairman V.C’s Committee
Chairman, IBCC; Joint Educational Adviser representative of Ministry of Education
Adviser (Academics), HEC
Director General (A&C), HEC and
Director General (A&A) HEC as Member/Secretary.
Pakistani Context In Comparison To World
All the professional bodies require a vast level of examination to be qualified in order to become
a member of the body, where in Latin Americaii the graduate with accounting degree becomes
the member of the respective body automatically. In Uganda the students are required to take
high level final stage case study before the admission to professional body in accountancy. More
than 70 and 40 Professional bodies are working in United States of America and United
Kingdom respectively, for different professions like Engineering, Management, Law, Medical,
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Charted Accountancy etc. and in order to join these professional bodies someone need to have
Technical, Management, Functional, Personnel and Interpersonal Skills.
In a Pakistani context the quality of professional education is addressed through Professional
education accreditation system. The HEC works with the existing councils as a partner to
achieve the common goals of Accreditation and Attestation Division in professional education
and also authorized to set up new councils in the missing areas. The councils are accrediting the
academic programmes in their relevant disciplines at the Universities. On the basis of their
standards the Accreditation and Attestation Division of HEC gives the appropriate ratings to the
said academic programme of the Universities.
Another role of HEC in this process is to build the capacity of existing councils or bodies. The
HEC works in close collaboration with 7 existing Councilsiii that include Pakistan Medical and
Dental Council, Pakistan Engineering Council, Pakistan Bar Council, Pakistan Council for
Architects and Town Planners, Pakistan Pharmacy Council, Pakistan Nursing Council and
Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council. There were certain professions in which primarily councils
were nonexistent. Therefore; 4 new councils were established namely, National Academic
Council for Teachers Training, National Business Education Accreditation Council, National
Agricultural Education Accreditation Council and National Computing Education Accreditation
Council.
Accreditation/Establishment Of New Private Sector Universities
The establishment of a university is a multi-step process. This process involves the legal,
physical, human and financial liabilities. Besides, these requirements the academic and other
requirements are also part of this process. The concerned university needs to formulate the
feasibility report and then the feasibility report is submitted to Higher Education Commission or
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to respective Provincial Government. If the feasibility report is justified then the next stage is
approval through the physical inspection of the committee to check the facilities and
infrastructure of the University.
The stepsiv required for accreditation/establishment of new private sector universities are given
below:
Completion of Legal Formalities
Submission of Feasibility Report
Scrutiny
Site Inspection
Recommendation for Grant of Charter
Grant of Charter
Evaluation Scheme
The table regarding requirements for the establishment of new private sector Universities is
given below. In fact these are the minimum parameters on which university is evaluated during
the physical visit of committee. On the basis of these parameters university is awarded a ranking
previously the ranking lies between W to Z. W category Universities means that they are the
number one in ranking and are fulfilling all the minimum requirements of HEC. X and Y means
that they are in stage of progress and if they improve the infrastructure, academic, legal and other
liabilities they can attain W category. However, Z category refers to the lowest standard of any
respective university which means they need a lot of things to be made at their end for making
them capable of doing this job.
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The trends have now been changed from the past and in fact it has shown an inclination in their
ranking. It’s all due to the efforts of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan that all 70
Universities have attained the W category ranking. As quality is a process of continuous
improvement and it has been earlier said that Accreditation is a part of quality therefore, now
HEC has developed a new scheme of ratings in order to keep our universities busy for attaining
and competing the International standards. Now the ranking schemes lie between W1 to W4. W1
is the least and W4 is the maximum category that any University can attain.
Implementation StatusOf Universities
So far out of 70 Universities 52 universities have achieved W category which reflects the
maximum standard. The 3 Universities are falling under X category. None of the private sector
Universities fall under Y category. However, 2 Universities lies under Z category which is
reflecting the lowest level university in terms of following the minimum standards set down by
Higher Education Commission Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission has further
stringent the criteria’s in order to improve the quality standards. Now category W is considered
as a minimum baseline of ranking, no university is falling under X, Y and Z category. The
ratings are further subdivided in W category from W1 to W4. W1 is a least star University
whereas, W4 is super star University. The rating formula is given below. The Universities
claimed the score on the basis of documents submitted and the Committee awards the score to
university after physical inspection of the University.
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Rating Formula
The private sector universities are evaluated and the rating is given on the basis of score obtained
which is given below as well.
Rating Formula
4 Star (W4)
Score: 101 - 121
2 Star (W2)
Score: 61 - 80
3 Star (W3)
Score: 81 - 100
1 Star (W1)
Score: 36 – 60
Score Claimed
Score Awarded
114, W4
112, W4
TABLE
The parameter’s on which the universities are evaluated are indicated here below.
Serial No.
Requirement with Standards/Norms
01
Endowment Fund(Minimum Rs. 50 Million)
02
Tangible Assets (Land, Building) worth of Rs. 100 Million etc.
03
Working Capital(Minimum Rs. 50 Million)
04
Minimum 4 Departments (Physics, Chemistry etc.)
05
Teacher Student Ratio
06
Availability of ManagementStaff (Registrar, Treasurer, Controller of
Examination)
07
Administrative Staff Teacher ratio (1:2)
08
At least 6 full time teachers per Department cadre wise(1 Professor, 1
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Associate Professor, 2 Asst. Professors, 2 Lecturers)
09
PhD Faculty per Department(Minimum 2 PhD degree holder per department
for non-PhD degree programs)
10
PhD Faculty for PhD degree program per Department(Minimum 3 PhD
degree holder per department)
11
Courses taught by Full time faculty(70% courses/semester taught by the full
time faculty)
12
Subscription to at least 15 current journals of international repute with
Impact Factor of at least 1.00
13
At least 1500 books from major international publishers in the relevant
field
14
Infrastructure requirement per Department(At Least 2 Lecture rooms, 1
Staff room, 1 Committee room, Common room, 1 Library cum Reading room)
15
General Facilities(Auditorium, Conference Hall, Sports Ground/Facilities,
Student Counseling Center, Cafeteria, Mosque)
16
Building owned/acquired
17
Gross Area acquired (10 acres)
18
Space available for each student at Lecture hall/room(12 – 15 per student)
19
Built in/Covered area per student (Minimum 100 sqft per student)
20
Laboratories (As required according to curriculum per Department or course
requirement)
21
Workshops/Seminar/Training Rooms (35 - 45 sqft per student)
22
PC details (1 for 3 students)
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23
Internet Services (Minimum 1 Mbps bandwidth)
24
Hostels (Boys & Girls)
25
Curriculum
26
Examinations
27
No. of Impact Factor Research Publications/Year/Department(In the
HECrecognized journals)
28
No of PhD Produced/Year/Department
29
No of MS/M.Phil. Thesis/Year/Department
30
Research Budget
31
Externally sponsored Research Grant
Conclusion
The roles of these councils are to collect, analyze and disseminate the informationto public at
large about the accredited professional education and programmes of the private sector
Universities. The websites of these councils and Universities provide detailed information about
accredited programmes and accredited Institutes not only within Pakistan but to rest of the world
also. The Higher Education Commission is acting like a catalyst whose main functions are
making policies, providing financial support, making arrangements for International
collaborations for capacity building of these councils and of private sector Universities.
However, the execution part of these minimum guidelines/policies lies with these councils and
universities in collaboration with Higher Education Commission. Lastly, the universities can
stringent these parameters in order to ensure the best quality of education in comparison to rest
of world.
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References
i
http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/DegreeAttestationEquivalence/Equivalence
DegreeIssuance/Pages/Default.aspx
ii
http://www.iaaer.org/research/files/Final_report_Helliar%5B1%5D.pdf
iii
http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/QALI/QualityAssurance/QualityAssuranceAgenc
y/Pages/AccreditationCouncils.aspx
Higher Education Commission (2007). “Guidelines for Establishment of A New University Or
iv
An Institution Of Higher Education” Islamabad ISD: Higher Education Commission.
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