THE Higher Education Commission (HEC) has left no room for external students of universities in the country with its recent step of doing away with 14-year bachelors and 16-year masters degree programmes.

Those individuals who study while earning a livelihood for their families have been totally ignored by the HEC. Why? It is against the very idea for which the HEC was set up; to promote higher education.

Also affected are those regular students who, for whatever reason, fail to get admission in universities and are left to pursue further studies as external students.

In the current scenario, they now have to spend an extra year to get enough marks in order to become a regular student.

I urge all the relevant stakeholders to revisit the matter and restore the facility of external studies.

Mahfooz un Nabi Khan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2021