2012Cambridge Business & Economics ConferenceISBN : 9780974211428
Title: -Quality of International Education in the Accreditations Councils and in the Private Sector Universities of Pakistan
ABOUT AUTHORS
Mr. Umar Nawaz Kayani
Assistant Director (A&A)
Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad Pakistan
Tel # +92-51-90400914/ +92-0333-5547707
Email:
Mr. Fida Hussain
Director General (A&A)
Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad Pakistan
Tel # +92-51-90400900
Dr. Farrukh Nawaz Kayani
Assistant Professor
COMSATS Institute of Information & Technology,
Islamabad Pakistan
Tel # +92-347-5342530
Email:
Quality of International Education in the Accreditations Councils and in the Private Sector Universities of Pakistan
ABSTRACT
The Accreditation & Attestation is a part of Quality Assurance which is a key to the development and progress of Higher Education. This which leads towards Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions in the right direction not only to build stronger economies but also to create the relevant knowledge capital for our socio-economic revival. The accreditation and attestation is a part of quality which is a continuous process of improvement. The Attestation and Accreditation of Quality Assurance was set up in May 2000 as a top most agenda of the Higher Education Commission Pakistan. The mission[i] of A&A was to develop a system relevant to national need, assure the quality of educational experience in Higher Education Institutes in comparison to International Standards and to enable the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to demonstrate excellence in teaching, research and learning.
The issue of setting up the uniform standards of quality across the professions i.e. Engineering field, Medical field, Business Administration etc. is a complex issue to be dealt with. Various accrediting bodies are working in all over the world to deal with the quality assurance of professional education in their respective areas. Their demographic features are different thus the rules of these professional bodies vary from each other and these are normally set by the government.
Introduction
The strategic plan 2001-2004 and the National Education Policy 1998-2010 of the Government of Pakistan stresses upon the need of education and the investment in public and private sector universities. It is a harsh reality which needs to be swallowed that the public sector is not coping up with the needs of stakeholders. Due to this the Government of Pakistan has developed liberal and friendly policies towards the establishment of private sector universities.
Since October 1999, 70 new private sector universities have been established. It is record breaking history since after the independence of Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has formulated the guidelines for the establishment of a new university or an institution of Higher Education.
The limit of the document is confined to provide the guidelines, which have been prescribed by the Federal Government for the establishment of Pakistani Institutes as necessitated by the Chancellors Committees in May 2004.
Attestation & Equivalence Of Degrees
The attestation of degrees/transcripts and diplomas awarded by the chartered universities/degree awarding institutions of Pakistan both in public and private sector was transferred to the Higher Education Commission by the Government of Pakistan in May, 2000.
Equivalence means that the studies undertaken in foreign educational institutions or degrees/diplomas obtained are regarded as equal to corresponding degrees/diplomas gained in native educational institutions. To find similar and matching systems of education in various countries is very difficult but after having developed a mechanism of equivalence, the term implies that there is reasonable measure of similarity and commonality between the two courses of studies and gratitude entitles its holder to rights enjoyed by those who have completed their grades successfully at local institutions.
Equivalence & Accreditation Committee
The Higher Education Commission has established the Equivalence and Accreditation Committee in order to consider the cases for Equivalence and attestation of foreign and local Universities. The committee consists of following members:
- Chairman HEC (Chairman of the Committee)
- Executive Director, HEC
- Member HRD & SP, HEC
- Chairman V.C’s Committee
- Chairman, IBCC; Joint Educational Adviser representative of Ministry of Education
- Adviser (Academics), HEC
- Director General (A&C), HEC and
- Director General (A&A) HEC as Member/Secretary.
Pakistani Context In Comparison To World
All the professional bodies require a vast level of examination to be qualified in order to become a member of the body, where in Latin America[ii] the graduate with accounting degree becomes the member of the respective body automatically. In Uganda the students are required to take high level final stage case study before the admission to professional body in accountancy. More than 70 and 40 Professional bodies are working in United States of America and United Kingdom respectively, for different professions like Engineering, Management, Law, Medical, Charted Accountancy etc. and in order to join these professional bodies someone need to have Technical, Management, Functional, Personnel and Interpersonal Skills.
In a Pakistani context the quality of professional education is addressed through Professional education accreditation system. The HEC works with the existing councils as a partner to achieve the common goals of Accreditation and Attestation Division in professional education and also authorized to set up new councils in the missing areas. The councils are accrediting the academic programmes in their relevant disciplines at the Universities. On the basis of their standards the Accreditation and Attestation Division of HEC gives the appropriate ratings to the said academic programme of the Universities.
Another role of HEC in this process is to build the capacity of existing councils or bodies. The HEC works in close collaboration with 7 existing Councils[iii] that include Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, Pakistan Engineering Council, Pakistan Bar Council, Pakistan Council for Architects and Town Planners, Pakistan Pharmacy Council, Pakistan Nursing Council and Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council. There were certain professions in which primarily councils were nonexistent. Therefore; 4 new councils were established namely, National Academic Council for Teachers Training, National Business Education Accreditation Council, National Agricultural Education Accreditation Council and National Computing Education Accreditation Council.
Accreditation/Establishment Of New Private Sector Universities
The establishment of a university is a multi-step process. This process involves the legal, physical, human and financial liabilities. Besides, these requirements the academic and other requirements are also part of this process. The concerned university needs to formulate the feasibility report and then the feasibility report is submitted to Higher Education Commission or to respective Provincial Government. If the feasibility report is justified then the next stage is approval through the physical inspection of the committee to check the facilities and infrastructure of the University.
The steps[iv] required for accreditation/establishment of new private sector universities are given below:
- Completion of Legal Formalities
- Submission of Feasibility Report
- Scrutiny
- Site Inspection
- Recommendation for Grant of Charter
- Grant of Charter
Evaluation Scheme
The table regarding requirements for the establishment of new private sector Universities is given below. In fact these are the minimum parameters on which university is evaluated during the physical visit of committee. On the basis of these parameters university is awarded a ranking previously the ranking lies between W to Z. W category Universities means that they are the number one in ranking and are fulfilling all the minimum requirements of HEC. X and Y means that they are in stage of progress and if they improve the infrastructure, academic, legal and other liabilities they can attain W category. However, Z category refers to the lowest standard of any respective university which means they need a lot of things to be made at their end for making them capable of doing this job.
The trends have now been changed from the past and in fact it has shown an inclination in their ranking. It’s all due to the efforts of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan that all 70 Universities have attained the W category ranking. As quality is a process of continuous improvement and it has been earlier said that Accreditation is a part of quality therefore, now HEC has developed a new scheme of ratings in order to keep our universities busy for attaining and competing the International standards. Now the ranking schemes lie between W1 to W4. W1 is the least and W4 is the maximum category that any University can attain.
Implementation StatusOf Universities
So far out of 70 Universities 52 universities have achieved W category which reflects the maximum standard. The 3 Universities are falling under X category. None of the private sector Universities fall under Y category. However, 2 Universities lies under Z category which is reflecting the lowest level university in terms of following the minimum standards set down by Higher Education Commission Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission has further stringent the criteria’s in order to improve the quality standards. Now category W is considered as a minimum baseline of ranking, no university is falling under X, Y and Z category. The ratings are further subdivided in W category from W1 to W4. W1 is a least star University whereas, W4 is super star University. The rating formula is given below. The Universities claimed the score on the basis of documents submitted and the Committee awards the score to university after physical inspection of the University.
Rating Formula
The private sector universities are evaluated and the rating is given on the basis of score obtained which is given below as well.
Rating Formula / Score Claimed / Score Awarded4 Star (W4) / Score: 101 - 121 / 114, W4 / 112, W4
2 Star (W2) / Score: 61 - 80
3 Star (W3) / Score: 81 - 100
1 Star (W1) / Score: 36 – 60
TABLE
The parameter’s on which the universities are evaluated are indicated here below.
Serial No. / Requirement with Standards/Norms01 / Endowment Fund(Minimum Rs. 50 Million)
02 / Tangible Assets (Land, Building) worth of Rs. 100 Million etc.
03 / Working Capital(Minimum Rs. 50 Million)
04 / Minimum 4 Departments (Physics, Chemistry etc.)
05 / Teacher Student Ratio
06 / Availability of ManagementStaff (Registrar, Treasurer, Controller of Examination)
07 / Administrative Staff Teacher ratio (1:2)
08 / At least 6 full time teachers per Department cadre wise(1 Professor, 1 Associate Professor, 2 Asst. Professors, 2 Lecturers)
09 / PhD Faculty per Department(Minimum 2 PhD degree holder per department for non-PhD degree programs)
10 / PhD Faculty for PhD degree program per Department(Minimum 3 PhD degree holder per department)
11 / Courses taught by Full time faculty(70% courses/semester taught by the full time faculty)
12 / Subscription to at least 15 current journals of international repute with Impact Factor of at least 1.00
13 / At least 1500 books from major international publishers in the relevant field
14 / Infrastructure requirement per Department(At Least 2 Lecture rooms, 1 Staff room, 1 Committee room, Common room, 1 Library cum Reading room)
15 / General Facilities(Auditorium, Conference Hall, Sports Ground/Facilities, Student Counseling Center, Cafeteria, Mosque)
16 / Building owned/acquired
17 / Gross Area acquired (10 acres)
18 / Space available for each student at Lecture hall/room(12 – 15 per student)
19 / Built in/Covered area per student (Minimum 100 sqft per student)
20 / Laboratories (As required according to curriculum per Department or course requirement)
21 / Workshops/Seminar/Training Rooms (35 - 45 sqft per student)
22 / PC details (1 for 3 students)
23 / Internet Services (Minimum 1 Mbps bandwidth)
24 / Hostels (Boys & Girls)
25 / Curriculum
26 / Examinations
27 / No. of Impact Factor Research Publications/Year/Department(In the HECrecognized journals)
28 / No of PhD Produced/Year/Department
29 / No of MS/M.Phil. Thesis/Year/Department
30 / Research Budget
31 / Externally sponsored Research Grant
Conclusion
The roles of these councils are to collect, analyze and disseminate the informationto public at large about the accredited professional education and programmes of the private sector Universities. The websites of these councils and Universities provide detailed information about accredited programmes and accredited Institutes not only within Pakistan but to rest of the world also. The Higher Education Commission is acting like a catalyst whose main functions are making policies, providing financial support, making arrangements for International collaborations for capacity building of these councils and of private sector Universities. However, the execution part of these minimum guidelines/policies lies with these councils and universities in collaboration with Higher Education Commission. Lastly, the universities can stringent these parameters in order to ensure the best quality of education in comparison to rest of world.
References
June 27-28, 2012
Cambridge, UK 1
[i]
[ii]
[iii]
[iv]Higher Education Commission (2007). “Guidelines for Establishment of A New University Or An Institution Of Higher Education” Islamabad ISD: Higher Education Commission.