KARACHI, July 8: The Higher Education Commission is planning to revise the curricula of 16 engineering and 23 other disciplines after completing the revision and preparation of syllabi for around 74 multi-disciplinary subjects.

The subjects and disciplines, whose curricula would be revised and modified, include chemical engineering, electronic engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, mining engineering, civil engineering, metallurgy and material engineering, industrial engineering, petroleum engineering, environmental engineering, textile engineering, biotechnology, agriculture chemistry, land water management, forestry, city and regional planning and engineering.

Three projects sponsored by the ministry of science and technology, ministry of education and ministry of law for the revision and development of the curricula were assigned to the HEC.

The commission also plans to revise curricula of 23 other disciplines during the year 2003 including, dental chemistry, prosthetic, oral surgery, periodontology, orthodontics, oral pathology, oral medicine, dental anatomy, general history, Islamic history, Urdu, social work, fine arts, women’s studies, Pakistan studies, Arabic, criminology, archaeology, and home economics subjects (food and nutrition, clothing and textile, child development, related arts and home management).

The HEC adopted modus operandi for review, revision and development of the curricula through National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) comprising nominees of universities, constituent colleges, and research and development organizations.

The curricula of 49 disciplines have been recommended for implementation by the universities, while the rest would be referred to the educational institutions shortly.

The ministry of science and technology had allocated a sum of Rs9 million to the HEC for the development of the curricula in three phases. The HEC with financial support from the ministry of science and technology, during the first phase (2000-01), had revised 26 disciplines.

In the second phase (2001-02), the commission revised and developed curricula of 15 disciplines, including biotechnology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, statistics, zoology, computer engineering, geology and physiology.

In the third phase, the commission under an approved development scheme of the ministry of education worth Rs7.2 million revised 31 disciplines, including law, education, sociology, commerce, mass communication, Islamic studies, international relations, economics, psychology, and other subjects.—PPI