LAHORE: The Punjab Higher Education Commission plans to focus more on interventions in the higher education sector.

“The commission will not do anything in duplication or entering into a conflict with the federal HEC,” said PHEC Chairman Prof Dr Nizamuddin.

Giving a briefing about the PHEC’s five-year strategic plan to bring higher education on a par with modern needs at Arfa Karim Software Park on Wednesday, Prof Nizamuddin said the technical education stream had failed to bring anything worthwhile in the lives of the students.

He said the commission wanted that the technical education should gain its status adding that the three-year diploma being offered by the Tevta should be upgraded to four-year degree programme.

Prof Nizamuddin said the commission was planning to establish two universities – technology university and paramedical and allied health university.

The commission would establish a technology university in collaboration with Tevta to provide degrees in demand-driven and integrated technologies.

He said the paramedical and allied health university would be operated under one umbrella through using available existing infrastructure; this university would produce technicians and researchers to support the health sector and associated disciplines.

He said the PHEC would introduce a concept of “community colleges” using existing colleges’ facilities available during afternoons to offer degrees in a wide range of technical/professional disciplines focusing on producing industry-ready graduates.

On the lines of military, civil and police academies, Prof Nizamuddin said the commission would establish three academies for professional development of faculty in Lahore, southern and northern Punjab. “These residential academies will conduct mandatory trainings at the pre-service level besides holding refresher courses to update existing faculty members on new, evolving and effective pedagogical teaching techniques,” he added.

The PHEC chairman said the commission would introduce appointments of “professors of practice” to leverage the experience of eminently qualified professionals and academicians. These would be special, adjunct, non-tenure track faculty positions, he added.

He said the PHEC would create and share a ‘graduate directory’ of all degree-holding youth and professionals of Punjab in order to facilitate them through career counseling, internships and job placements in their areas of specialisation.

Prof Nizamuddin vowed that the commission would increase equitable access, especially to far-flung areas of the province along with improving academic/teaching standards, focusing on research relevant to the socio-economic needs of the province and creating an employable workforce through increased efforts towards imparting structural and technical skills.

He said the PHEC had identified different priority areas including energy, information and communication technology, health, agriculture, livestock and social sciences.

He said the commission was also setting up committees comprising regional and international experts to serve as think-tanks in these areas.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2015

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