ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has introduced a system of ranking degree-awarding institutions in the country on the basis of their performance.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, HEC Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi made a brief presentation to mediapersons about the methodology adopted for the ranking.

Dr Atta-ur-Rehman was also present on the occasion.

The rankings would be based on data collected on the basis of five key issues with relative weightages for each, as follows: students (17 per cent), facilities (15 per cent), finances (15 per cent), faculty (27 per cent) and research (26 per cent) with the cumulative totals of the categories adding to 100, said Dr Sohail.

The methodology adopted in determining the university rankings was developed by the Quality Assurance Committee of the HEC through a consultative process in which various leading international ranking practices and systems were analysed, he said.

According to Dr Sohail, the process of data collection for the ranking exercise was implemented specific to the ranking criteria approved by the commission. As a result, a questionnaire was developed and sent to all universities for completion. On receipt of the data from the universities, the HEC conducted an exhaustive process of vetting to ensure that the data provided by the universities was indeed accurate.

The data was collected for the financial years 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04. Not included in the ranking system are the universities and degree-awarding institutes that awarded charters after 2001; universities and institutes imparting education via distance learning such as Allama Iqbal Open University and Virtual University; and the private-sector universities currently not meeting minimum cabinet criteria for establishment of universities i.e. those in categories Y & Z.