Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Tuesday said that the commission would take forward the agenda of improving quality of teaching and research in higher education institutions and the universities would be encouraged and supported to play a proactive role for socio-economic growth of the country.
During his first media briefing after assuming charge of the Chairman HEC, Dr. Mukhtar said the commission would bring together universities, research organisations and other government departments to jointly work on presenting solutions to the problems facing the country, especially water depletion and flooding, food security, climate change, and country’s security.
“Nations face adversities, however they strive to rise up. We together have to steer the country out of these problems by prioritising our objectives and synergising for sectoral development,” he emphasised.
Stressing the need for being selective in areas for PhD studies, he said that the research carried out at universities and research centres must provide solutions to local and national issues.
The chairman pointed out that quality, governance and technology-readiness as the major challenges facing the higher education sector, and assured that HEC would put more efforts for continuous improvement in quality and governance.
He warned that those universities which ignore adapting to the needs of the technological world would lag behind.
He said HEC was committed to the mandate of enhancing access, improving quality and ensuring relevance, but added that the commission would emphasise care in expanding the higher education sector.
He asserted that the government had shown its strong commitment to supporting the higher education sector despite challenges.
“I assure the Vice Chancellors, faculty, and students that HEC will facilitate all of you. And we will work together for the development of the higher education sector,” he said, affirming that HEC’s role as a regulatory body would be to streamline the processes and improve the quality standards.”
Dr. Mukhtar hoped that the public and private sectors would jointly work to enhance their contributions towards the development of the country.
The chairman also dilated on strengthening academia-industry linkages, skill-based degree programmes, and media’s role in informing masses about educational and research opportunities.
