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FAISALABAD, Sept 23: Federal Science and Technology Minister Dr Ataur Rahman has warned that all those colleges, which have been elevated to the university level, will have to fulfil the conditions, otherwise their recognition would be withdrawn.
Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, the minister conceded that a number of institutions had been given the status of university without considering their infrastructure, faculties, laboratories and other required facilities.
He said a majority of the educational institutions had been given the status of university under an agreement, and it would be withdrawn in case the managements failed to fulfil the requirements. The institutes, which had been recently granted the status of university, had been asked to be prepared for detailed checking of their records, claimed Dr Ata, who is also the chairman of the Higher Education Commission.
He said the HEC would keep an eye on the working, examination system and infrastructure of these institutes.
AGRICULTURE VARSITY: The HEC has initiated a crash programme to improve the quality of education in the country by updating the syllabi, connecting the local universities with the foreign institutes and providing benefits to the teachers.
This was claimed by Dr Ataur Rahman while he was addressing the faculty members of the University of Agriculture.
Under the programme, he said, all the 45 universities in the country were being connected through online fibre system to provide access to the students and teachers to libraries, lectures and research.
Promotion of applied sciences, engineering and medical was the main objective of the government, he said, “which does not want to waste funds on general universities as was the practice in the past.” Besides, a uniform examination system would be introduced in all the universities in the country, Dr Ata said.
He said arrangements were being made to get access to over 5,000 full-text renowned journals and abstracts of about 30,000 journals from primary to university level.
He said the promotion of teachers on the basis of seniority was an epidemic, which would be fought out. “Only the deserving and competitive individuals will step up the ladder of the prestigious faculty posts now,” he pledged.
He said the HEC had initiated over 300 different courses, besides a series of television programmes, aimed at improving education, science and technology standards.
The minister said arrangements had been made for sending various batches of teachers for PhD programmes in France, Germany, Austria and China.
The Virtual University in Pakistan, Dr Ata said, would play a vital role in changing the complexion of technical education.
