ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has stressed on research at graduate and postgraduate levels in the discipline of agronomy.

A preliminary meeting of the National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) of the HEC was held only recently at its regional centre, Lahore, said an official statement issued here on Friday.

The committee was informed about the services of expatriate Pakistani experts engaged by the HEC for critical analysis of the draft curriculum to match international standards.

In this regard suggestions received from Dr Athar Tariq, Professor in Agronomy, California State University, US were given special attention by the committee. The committee recommended that the HEC should improve libraries and documentation centres of the institutions, ensure availability of CDs of the last 10 years of reputed journals and provide training facilities to in-service university teachers in the desired fields.

It also recommended that all agricultural institutions' teaching staff should be brought on a par with sister universities and colleges to impart quality education. It suggested that an expert committee of renowned scholars be formulated to decide the minimum requirement of various degrees in agriculture disciplines.

There should be uniformity in the number of credit hours required for BSc (Hons), MSc (Hons) agronomy and PhD degrees offered by various institutions, and efforts should be made to update the curriculum.

However, it may be necessary to slightly modify certain courses to suit specific conditions and fulfil mandate of the institutions, the statement said. The agriculture universities, faculties and colleges should include internship in the eight semester as the HEC is encouraging and funding internship for practical training of students.

Those who attended the meeting included Prof (retired) Dr Paigham Shah (convener), NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar; Prof Dr Haji Khalil Ahmad, Gomal University D.I. Khan; Prof Dr Abid Hussain, University of Agriculture Faisalabad; Prof Dr Umeed Ali Buriro, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam; Prof Dr Fayyaz Chaudhry, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad; Prof Dr Mohammad Akmal, NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar; Dr Mohammad Ashraf, University of Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi; Prof Dr Mohammad Bismillah Khan, B.Z. University Multan; Khudai Nazar Babar, Balochistan Agriculture College Quetta; Dr Salik Nawaz Khan, University of the Punjab Lahore; Mohammad Sarfraz Iqbal, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute Faisalabad; Dr Imtiaz Hussain, National Agricultural Research Centre Islamabad and Prof Dr Mushtaq Hussain Kazmi, Faculty of Agriculture Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir.