July 16, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 14: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is determined to bring the domestic higher education on a par with the international standards and it won’t compromise on the quality of education.

Dr M Akram Shaikh, Executive Director, HEC, said this while presiding over a meeting of the steering committee comprising all the provincial education secretaries and representatives from the commission.

The committee has been formed to promote coordination between the federal and the provincial governments on all matters relating to the higher education sector in Pakistan.

Dr Shaikh stressed that the provincial governments and the federal government must adhere to their criteria set for establishment or affiliation of the institutions of higher learning. “This strict observance of the criteria will not only discourage illegal operation of private sector universities but will also ensure achievement of standards in the quality of education.”

The committee was informed that private sector universities/degree-awarding institutions, while bringing about ample opportunities for students in market-oriented disciplines of study had been opening satellite campuses in provinces other than that of their origin. By doing so, they have overstepped the legal boundaries of their charters and have intruded into the academic jurisdiction of other provinces and public sector universities.

It was unanimously agreed that strict measures in this regard will be adopted by all the governments to ensure that establishment of any institution or campus was in accordance with the established criteria.

The meeting agreed that the institutions operating illegally would be held accountable for the damage done to the prospective careers of their students. It was further agreed that the meetings of the steering committee would be held frequently to tackle the problems pertaining to the higher education.

Dr Sohail H. Naqvi, Member (HRD), HEC, briefed the participants on the key issues identified by the commission regarding promotion and development of higher education.

He informed the meeting that the commission was in the process of prescribing international norms to be adopted by domestic universities and institutions of higher learning.

STUDY APPROVED: Meanwhile, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved a research study entitled “Co-processing of Coal Plastic Mixture, conversion into Synthetic Fuels” to be conducted at the University of Peshawar at a cost of Rs345,000.

According to a press release, under the supervision of Dr Mohammad Ishaq, Department of Chemistry, University of Peshawar, the research study would be completed in a period of 2 years.

The project is part of the HEC’s recently launched national research programme for universities.

It is well-established fact that crude petroleum is going to exhaust in the near future, but coal reserves in the world will survive for hundred of years.

Keeping in view the previous researches, it is observed that coal can be converted into synthetic liquid fuels under high pressure and temperature, in an autoclave in the presence of hydrogen and nitrogen.