ISLAMABAD, May 13: The Higher Education Commission on Friday announced that the aptitude test for ‘talent farming scheme’ will be held on May 22. Test for BSc/BSc (Hons) level students will be held from 9:30am to 12:30pm while for MSc students timing will be from 2pm to 4pm, an official statement said.
The examination centres are: Lecture Hall/Auditorium, Higher Education Commission, H-9, Islamabad; Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad; Hailey College of Commerce, University of the Punjab (New Campus) Lahore; Main Hall, NWFP University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar; HEC Regional Centre, Liaquat National Library, behind TV Station, Karachi; University Model School (City/Old Campus) University of Sindh Jamshoro, Gari Khata, Hyderabad; Department of Education, B.Z. University, Multan and Department of Social Work, University of Balochistan, Quetta.
To attract students for studying basic sciences at BSc and MSc level, 100 scholarships are awarded every year to students having first class throughout their academic career.
PPI ADDS: The National Assembly was informed on Friday that 92 faculty members had been hired from abroad for national universities and other institutions approved by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
In a written reply to the National Assembly, Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi said foreign professors had been hired from the US, Australia, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Canada, Egypt, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
All professors have PhD degrees along with experience of five to 12 years, he said.
Giving reasons for appointment of foreign professors, he said it was the demand of public-sector institutions of higher education who wanted foreign faculty to supervise postgraduate research students and create a linkage between public-sector higher education institutions and foreign research centres.
He said the Higher Education Commission (HEC) had a stringent process of hiring foreign professors under the faculty hiring programme.
Curriculum: The National Assembly was informed on Friday that curriculum would be reviewed and revised to make it responsive to the national aspirations and present needs.
In reply to different questions, Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi told the house that the government had decided to review and revise curricula of all subjects. He said the government was committed to improving the education sector, particularly the higher education, to meet the future needs.
He said special programme had been launched by the Higher Education Commission to award scholarships for the studies abroad for PhD especially in the subjects of science, technology and management sciences.