ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) finally appointed an executive director (ED), after operating for 20 months without a permanent appointment on the post.

The Commission, which is the supreme decision making body of the higher education governing body, met at the HEC secretariat and approved the appointment of Prof Dr Arshad Ali as ED HEC. Dr Arshad Ali was serving as Rector Textile University, Faisalabad.

The commission also approved the appointment of three new advisers for the higher education governing body.

These include Dr Fateh Mohammad Mari as Adviser Monitoring and Evaluation, former Director General HEC Dr Mohammad Latif as Adviser Quality Assurance & Learning Innovation and former Project Director HEC Waseem Hashmi as Adviser Human Resource Department.

The Commission also approved the bridging of a two year BA or BSc degree to a four-year BS degree which will be possible after the completion of a 15 to 18 credit bridging course. A standard based four-year B.Ed (Hons) and a two year Associate Degree in Education were also ratified.

Policy Guidelines for the implementation of uniform semesters in the higher education institutions in Pakistan were also set. HEC’s criteria for admissions in MS, MPhil and PhD programmes were discussed and minor modifications in them were approved.

Discussing the draft of the National Qualifications Framework of Pakistan, 2015, members agreed to keep the document live on the HEC website for six months to invite feedback from stakeholders. It will then be presented for final review.

The establishment of a National Accreditation Council on Allied Health Sciences and a National Accreditation Council on Life Sciences was also discussed and approved. It was advised that a detailed proposal be presented to the commission in its next meeting.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2016