Annual Report - HEC

REPORTANNUAL

2004-05

COLLABORATING FOR SUCCESS

Table of Contents

Chapter Page

1. Faculty Development

2. Improving Access

3. Promoting Excellence in Research

4. Relevance to the Economy: University-Industry Linkages

5. Promoting Governance

6. Physical and Technological Infrastructure Development

7. Quality Assurance and Accreditation

8. Extramural Activities

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85

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FACULTY DEVELOPMENTFACULTY DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

The reform agenda of the Higher Education Commission, outlined in the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF), though only in early stages of implementation, has already made a substantial impact on the learning and research environment of institutes of higher education across Pakistan. No more tangible has this impact been demonstrated than in the area of Faculty Development.

In order to ensure the economic competitiveness of Pakistan, the contribution of highly technical manpower to stimulate research capacity and scientific and industrial innovation is paramount. To create the education system that will generate a learned society capable of facing the challenges of the modern age, an active and well-qualified faculty base in institutions of higher education is essential.

A comprehensive faculty development strategy is the key to the acquisition of institutional capacities which permit higher education to realize its optimal contribution to society. Strong and innovative faculty development is a strategy which guarantees the quality and relevance of higher education in a changing world and the Higher Education Commission is seeking to ensure that these features are hallmarks of the higher education sector in Pakistan.

The responsibility for stimulating domestic research productivity falls squarely on the shoulders of the Government of Pakistan. If Pakistan is to achieve the rates of progress necessary to support economic growth for a rapidly increasing populous, it is vital that our indigenous organizations fuel the production of knowledge and innovation. Most importantly, our focus is to support the human resource development of the faculty members who are the enablers of this process.

At the very core of the strategic reform agenda of our organization, our Faculty Development goals are to improve the quality of teaching and research support in institutions through focused programmemes to improve the pedagogical skills, teaching capacity, qualifications and knowledge-base of our faculty.

The HEC is guided by the principle that a high-quality and well-motivated teaching staff and a supportive professional culture are essential in building excellence, and accordingly we have advocated a solid institutional policy to promote academic and pedagogical competence in order to serve the needs of all stakeholders concerned by training and research. It is important to recognize that the quest for excellence is an integrated process, and faculty development must be considered with the development of an environment conducive to academics, as well as research and development in universities.

The year 2004-2005 has seen the continued implementation of flagship HEC programmes in the area of faculty development, as well as the start of innovative new programmes targeted towards meeting the objectives of our organization in this critical arena.

The major thrust of programmes implemented by the HEC aim principally at improving the academic qualifications of higher education teachers in order to upgrade their level of training and research. The ability of staff to assure excellence in a given field - mainly through advanced postgraduate, and primarily PhD qualifications - is crucial if a higher education institution is to award a degree or diploma in that discipline.

In this respect, the Higher Education Commission has launched a major programme for the production of PhDs at the national level, undertaking measures at each step of the process to ensure that standards of quality are not compromised. The supervisors guiding the PhD scholars in the pursuit of research excellence are carefully screened with particular reference to their research output in the form of international publications in recent years. Only a very limited number of current faculty members meet the stringent requirements to qualify as supervisors for PhD programmes; this selectivity ensures that all those who are selected as supervisors possess the requisite knowledge and research record.

The Higher Education Commission has developed a range of scholarship programmes which provide opportunities for the pursuit of PhD degrees in leading international universities. The development of

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

2004-05

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INDIGENOUS SCHOLARSHIPS

foreign scholarship programmes has been based geared towards improving the research base in areas of key national relevance where the requisite facilities are not available within Pakistan, by creating partnerships with technologically advanced countries that are leaders in the respective fields, and where tuition fees are relatively low. These programmes offer favourable opportunities to faculty members of public sector universities, who will return to their institutions over the next five years, and provide the essential highly qualified manpower to support the PhD education of other students, and contribute to the development of our universities as world class seats of learning.

Further measures have been taken to ensure that when the scholars return from their PhD studies abroad, they have guaranteed employment and have a wealth of funding opportunities, research grants, facilities and competent research students to aid them at this critical juncture in their careers.

While the scholarship programmes implemented by the HEC are already producing graduates who are being absorbed into the national science system, the gestation periods of these programmes (typically 3-4 years) entails that their impact will only be manifest after a certain period of time. Current critical faculty deficiencies are being met through the ongoing implementation of successful programmes of the Commission introduced in 2003-2004 to hire highly-qualified faculty members from abroad, on both short and long-term appointments. In addition, the HEC is tapping into the cadre of local PhD faculty who are approaching retirement but remain active and productive researchers, by re-engaging them at universities across the country.

In order to retain leading faculty members, and to attract talented and highly-qualified professionals into careers in education, the HEC has continued to implement the Model Tenure Track System of appointments for faculty members, and has been working to increase the adoption of this critical quality measure in universities across the country. The Learning and Innovation Division of the Higher Education Commission has continued to implement programmes to strengthen the teaching capacities of qualified academic staff so that the learning process may have optimal impact. In this respect, they continued their 3-month Faculty Development Programmes to improve the skills of faculty members from institutes of higher education across the country, and introduced a range of additional short-term courses including Curriculum-based Training, International Computer Driving License (ICDL) Certificate Courses, and training programmes for Developing Research Skills.

5000 Indigenous PhD Fellowships

This mega-project aims to stimulate research and development activities in public sector universities and to create a critical mass of highly-qualified human resources in all fields taught at advanced levels across the world. This increased intellectual activity will enhance capacities in both the educational and industrial sectors, and assist the country in meeting the demands of the contemporary global knowledge-economy. It is anticipated the students engaged in this programme will not only work on more theoretical principles, but assist in the development of practical solutions to address the social and economic problems currently faced by our nation.

Approved by The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on August 11, 2003 at a total cost of Pak Rs. 6402.767 million (with no foreign exchange component), this project targets an intake of 5000 PhD scholars in universities across the country over a five-year period, awarding scholarships in three batches.

The 2nd Batch of the project is on underway during 2004-05, with the awardees from the first batch

The following table is presenting the status of candidates selected by National Scholarship Management nd

Committee (NSMC) on 22 September 2004 at Higher Education Commission, Islamabad headed by Dr. S.

Sohail H. Naqvi, Executive Director.

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REPORTANNUAL

currently engaged in their research in different universities across Pakistan. Of the first batch, 33 awardees have submitted research papers for publication in different HEC approved Journals. Ten awardees have attended conferences and workshops, both national and international.

The launch of this phase, inviting applications for the award of fellowships was announced through th

advertisement in daily national newspapers on 4 July 2004. Candidates meeting the basic eligibility criteria were issued roll-number slips for the GRE general test conducted by National Testing Services on

th29 August 2004.

The status of the scheme for 2004-05 is as under:

S. No. Items No.

1. Number of applications received by closing date 16,000

2. Ineligibilities 3,000

3. Eligible (Roll Number was issued) 13,000

4. Candidates appeared in test on 29th August 2004) 11,710

5. Candidates obtained 50 and above Marks in GRE General Type test 2048

6. Candidates selected by NSMC and issued award letters in February 2004 1620

S.# Subject

Cut offpoint test

Score

TotalCandidates

SelectedTotal Awards

issuedAdmissions

CancellationOf awards(Selected

Candidates– Admissions)

Points Candidates Candidate %age

1 Eng. & Tech. 50 448 356 25 205 243

2 Phy. Sciences 50 331 292 20 238 93

3 Life Sciences 52 314 313 22 257 57

4 Social Sciences 53 270 242 17 184 86

5 Bus. Education 52 152 122 9 61 91

6 Arts & Hum. 53 106 101 7 85 21

TOTAL 1621 1426 100 1030 591

The following graph shows the subject wise issuance of award letters in each field at 2004-05.

PhD Fellowships for 5000 Scholars

2520 22

17

97

0

10

20

30

Eng. & Tech. Phy.

Sciences

Life

Sciences

Social

Sciences

Bus.

Education

Arts & Hum.

Subject wise award letter issued (Percentages) 2004-05

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Financial Allocation, Releases, Expenditure

Approximately 1,000 PhD Scholars have enrolled in Batch-II. The PSDP allocation for the year 2004-05 was Pak Rs. 200 million of which Pak Rs. 85.432 million was utilized during the year for 1,030 awardees. The detailed project financial progress is given below.

Financial Phase (Pak. Rs. in Million)

Development of S&T Manpower through Indigenous 300 PhD Scholarships

The primary objective of this programme is to produce 300 PhD scholars to increase indigenous capacities in various fields of science and technology, with eligibility to the programme open to regular employees of public sector universities, colleges and R&D organizations having two years of relevant work experience. Up to June 2005 a total of 240 students have been enrolled into the programme and have together published a total of 206 research publications. The scholars are conducting research in various fields of science and technology and are being supervised in their research by HEC approved professors.

To date three scholars have been conferred doctoral degrees through the programme- two from the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry (University of Karachi) in Organic Chemistry and one from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, in Plant Pathology. Each PhD was awarded following external evaluation of their PhD theses by evaluators from industrially advanced countries. As of June 2005, a further 20 scholars are near completion of their PhD degrees.

86

14

Admissions Unutilized

The 1,273 scholars were targeted in line with the PC -I. 1,030 were admitted in different universities. The above graph shows that 86% students admitted in d ifferent Universities and 14% slots are unutilized due to unavoidable reasons in this year.

Percentage Utilization ofPhD Fellowships for 5000 Scholars 2004-05

YearPhasing as per approved PC-I

Actual Amount

Resealed

Actual Amount Utilized

Amount Committed for release

2004-05 628.568 200.00 85.432 114.568

0

20

40

60

80

100

2004-05

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Enrolment Profile

Since the launch of the programme, there have been annual intakes of scholars, resulting in a total enrolment of 240 in the programme. The phasing of the enrolments is demonstrated in the table below:

Subject wise Distribution of Scholars

A total number of 240 enrolled scholars (240) are doing research work in various fields of science and technology. Their distribution profile is depicted below:.

Subjects No. of Students

Agriculture 59

Engineering 73

Chemistry 24

Physics 18

IT/CS 30

Maths 17

Bio-Sciences 19

Total Scholarships

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5 Cumulative

300 86 28 30 64 29

300 86 114 144 208 237+3 PhD completed

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Total Cost of Project (Rs in million)

Total Funds Received by HEC (Rs in million)

Total Amount Released to Universities against PhD Scholars (Rs in million)

603.9 441.95 403.61

603.9

441.95403.61

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Total Cost of Project (Rs.

in Million)

Total Funds Received by

HEC (Rs. in Millions)

Total Amount released to

Universitites against PhD

Scholars (Rs. in Millions)

Total Project Cost vs Total Receipts (Pak Rs in Million)

Year Phasing as per approved PC-1

(latest)

PSDP Provision Actual Amount Released

Total FED Total FEC Total FEC

2000-01 150.60 - 50.000 - 50 -

2001-02 150.60 - 70.000 - 70 -

2002-03 150.00 - 150.00 - 150 -

2003-04 152.700 - 166.950 - 166.95 -

2004-05 0 - 10 - 5 -

Total 603.900 - 446.95 - 441.95 -

Merit Scholarship Scheme for PhD Students in Science and Technology (200 Scholarships)

The scheme aims at creating a pool of specialized scientists and highly skilled professionals trained at PhD level in areas which are critical to economic growth. The fields of study covered under this PhD programme include Information Technology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Material Sciences, Electronics and Micro-Electronics, Engineering, Lasers and Fibre-Optics, Basic Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Renewable Energy/ Energy and Food Technologies, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Robotics and Mechatronics.

Launched initially in February of 2002, with the most recent intake taking place in April 2004, a total of 171 scholars are currently at various stages of their PhD research, and 4 have completed their PhD degrees. To date, the scholars engaged in this programme have produced 74 research publications. Enrolment Profile

Total Scholarships

Batch-I Batch-II Batch-III Batch-IV

200 60 53 38 20

Progressive Increase

60 113 151 171

2004-05

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One hundred and seventy one enrolled scholars are doing research work in various fields of Science and Technology i.e., engineering, basic sciences, mathematics, IT and agriculture. Their distribution profile is depicted as under

S. No Name of Student

Name of Supervisor

Subject Name of University

1 Ms. Sabahat Zia Prof. Dr. M. Ajmal Khan

Botany University of Karachi, Karachi

2 Ms. Tooba Feroze

Dr. Asghar Qadir Mathematics Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

3 Mr. Muhammad Farrukh Saleem

Prof. Dr. M. Asghar Malik

Agronomy University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

4 Mr. Qaiser Ali Prof. Dr. Athar Naeeem Khan

Civil Engineering NWFP University of Engineering and

Technology, Peshawar

Utilization Profile (From February 2002 to June 2005)

Total Cost of Project (Rs in Millions)

Total Funds Received by HEC (Rs in Million)

Total Amount Released to Universities Against PhD Scholars (Rs in million)

259.3 185 156.992

Scholarships for PhD Studies in Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities for University Teachers

In recognition of the valuable economic, social and cultural contribution made by scholars in the social sciences, arts and humanities, the HEC has implemented human resource development programmes within these disciplines. This subject scheme, launched in April 2004 awarded 93 scholarships to teachers and researchers to pursue PhDs in their respective fields. Screening and selection of the programme was done in two phases, with candidates selected on the basis of merit following the conduct of a GRE-type test assessing their numerical, language and logic capabilities.

Of a total of 175 seats available under this scheme, 33 candidates were selected in Phase-I and 60 in Phase-II.

Progressive enrolments in the project are depicted below.

Progressive Increase Phase-I Phase-II Total

33 60 93

Utilization Profile (From April 2004 to Jan 2005)

The Scheme was put into operation in April 2004. Here is a brief summary of total cost pattern of release and outlays incurred as on January 2005.

Total Cost of Project Total Funds Received by HEC

Total Amount Released to Universities Against PhD

Scholars

194.530 49.730 21.528284

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HEC Approved PhD Supervisors Programme

Doctoral education primarily concentrates on the formation of appropriate research skills to undertake an independent inquiry. This goal imposes special responsibilities on the PhD supervisor who must guide students towards productive lines of research and ethical conduct to guide and foster their students research and professional career. The specific objective of this programme is to identify the well-qualified, experienced and active scholars among the faculty members of HEC recognized institutions to act as PhD supervisors for doctoral students funded under various indigenous PhD scholarship programmes.

A second meeting for the selection of supervisor's in social sciences was held on January 18, 2005 to discuss the selection criteria of PhD Supervisors. The meeting set certain criteria for the selection of candidates holding foreign PhDs was set. According to these criteria, these supervisors should have a PhD degree from any renowned international university, and for those who are fresh PhDs with no publications may only supervise two researchers at a time. In addition, it was decided that the selection criteria for candidates holding PhD degrees from indigenous institutions would require that they possess international teaching/research/fellowships, post-doctoral degree, publications in peer referred journals with international citation, and or supervision experience at MPhil level.

Five Information Technology related HRD Scholarship Programmes/Projects

In accordance with the national development objectives of the country and the National IT policy, the HEC has implemented programmes to enhance local capacities in the critical area of Information Technology (IT). IT is a knowledge intensive industry, and achieving economic competitiveness within this field requires a strong base of talented and highly skilled manpower.

The five scholarship programmes were continuing projects, designed to support Bachelors and Masters level students who were awarded scholarships in the calendar year 2001. These projects were initiated to support meritorious students from all provinces including FATA, Capital, NA & AJK.

Each phase of the project was for a calendar year and was approved by the DDWP on a yearly basis, with the current phase being the last of these scholarship programmes commencing January 2005 and expiring in June 2005, having received an extension with the approval of the Executive Director of the HEC (Chairman of the DDWP) without changing the scope & financial implications of the project.

194.53

49.73

21.528284

0

50

100

150

200

250

Total Cost of Project (Rs.

in Million)

Total Funds Received by

HEC (Rs. in Millions)

Total Amount released to

Universitites against PhD

Scholars (Rs. in Millions)

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The numbers of scholars for each IT HRD project for the year 2004-05 are given as under:

Following is a brief summary of total cost pattern of release and amount utilized during the FY 2004-05:

Utilization Profile (From July 2004 to June 2005)

The HEC has initiated five IT related Project as under:

FOREIGN SCHOLARSHIPS

Overseas Scholarship Scheme for PhD in Selected Fields

A major programme to enhance the indigenous scientific and innovation capacities for Pakistan to compete in the international knowledge economy, the subject programme aims to provide 800 scholarships to meritorious candidates to pursue their PhD education in selected fields at reputed international universities. The Programme, launched in March 2004 will be completed by 2011 at a cost of Pak Rs 4,275.805 million.

The scholarships provide awards for PhD scholarships to universities in leading European and Asian countries with low tuition fees, and include Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands and China. Up to 10% of the available seats are reserved to support the PhD level training of candidates who have been admitted to a group of carefully selected universities in advanced countries based on their strengths in various disciplines (e.g. Cambridge, Harvard, MIT etc).

S. No. Name of ProjectTotal Cost

(Rs. Million)Total Funds Received by

HEC

Total Funds Utilized by HEC (Rs. Million)

1 Punjab IT HRD programme 18.219 5.000 4.345

2 Sindh IT HRD programme 5.733 3.000 2.159

3 NWFP IT HRD programme 2.431 2.431 0.519

4 Baluchistan IT HRD programme 0.378 0.378 0.090

5 FATA, Capital, and NA & AJK IT HRD programme

2.450 0613 0.470

S. No.Name of Project

Bachelor’s( BCS)

Master’sMBA, MCS

Total

1 Punjab IT HRD programme 243 22 265

2 Sindh IT HRD programme 80 2 82

3 NWFP IT HRD programme 30 2 32

4 Baluchistan IT HRD programme 5 - 5

5 FATA, Capital, and NA & AJK IT HRD programme

35 1 36

Scholarship for Punjab IT HRD Programme Phase- IV (Continuation)

Scholarship for Sindh IT HRD Programme Phase- IV (Continuation)

Scholarship for NWFP IT HRD Programme Phase- IV (Continuation)

Scholarship for Baluchistan IT HRD Programme Phase- IV (Continuation)

Scholarship for Federal Capital, FATA, NA & AJK IT HRD Programme Phase- IV (Continuation)

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Of the 200 scholarships available against the year 2004-05 (Phase-II), 92 candidates have been selected of whom 29 have commenced their studies at their respective universities abroad. A further 42 will proceed to their universities during July 2005, while a further 50 will commence their PhD programmes in October 2005. Scholars awarded places at universities in Germany, France and China are all required to undergo second language training prior to proceeding abroad for further studies.

Phase-III of the programme, to fill a further 200 seats was initiated in May 2005. Over 6,500 applications were received for the 180 seats available in the European and Asian universities, while 553 applications were made against the 20 seats allocated for places in leading universities in the USA, UK, Australia etc. The decision for nominating 20 awards to appropriate candidates is to be made by second week of July 2005, when the testing for the 180 seats will also commence. Interviews and selection for the latter are due to be finalized during Sept-Oct 2005.

Releases and Utilization

PhD Scholarships for Engineering and Sciences in Germany

In accordance with our objective to enhance local capacities in fields critical to the technological and economic development of Pakistan, the HEC has launched a programme to provide scholarships to 40 outstanding young engineers and scientists in S&T related fields to complete their PhD education leading German universities. This four-year scheme was launched in July 2003 at a capital cost of Rs 199.500 million.

Of the 25 remaining scholarships available following the awards in the previous financial year, 22 applicants were selected on the basis of their performance in the GRE-type test following two examination sessions in October 2004, and March 2005, and through interviews conducted by a team of German Professors from the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD. The awardees have commenced their German Language instruction courses in Lahore.

PhD Scholarships in Science, Technology and Engineering in Austria (Phase-I)

An additional programme to enhance the human resource development drive in areas of economic significance, the subject programme has been developed to provide scholarships for 55 outstanding public sector university teachers and employees of research organizations in S&T related fields at leading Austrian universities. This four-year programme was approved by CDWP in July 2003 at a capital cost of Pak Rs 187.300 million.

During the financial year 2004-2005 a further 13 scholarships were awarded, bringing the total scholarships availed to 39 of the available 55. The awardees from the most recent batch are expected to depart for their studies in August 2005. Financial Status

S.No. Financial Year Total Allocated Amount

Total Expenditure Balance

1 2003-04 50 million 32.077 million 17.92 million

2 2004-05 54.8 million 38.34 million 16.47 million

3 Total 104.8 million 70.417 million 34.39 million

Year Allocated in PSDP Funds Released Funds Utilized

2003-04 Rs 100.000 million Rs 100.000 million Rs 0.6 million by June 30, 2004

2004-05 Rs 450.000 million Rs 180.000 million Rs 255.0 million by June 30, 2005

2005-06 Rs 780.000 million -- For next year

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Scholars will be departing in August 2005.

Outlay for 2004-05

Subject wise distribution of Scholars (Studying at Austria).

38330000

16470000

54800000

0

10000000

20000000

30000000

40000000

50000000

60000000

Total Funds Received Total Expenditure Total Balance

Subject No. Of Scholars

Physics 05

Engineering 03

Computer Science 03

Chemistry 01

Mathematics 01

Total 13

9

4

39

11

5 323

11

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Ph

ysic

s

In

form

ati

on

Tech

no

log

y

En

gin

eeri

ng

Sta

tisti

cs

Co

mp

ute

r

Scie

nce

Ch

em

istr

y

Bio

log

y

Ph

arm

acy

Math

em

ati

cs

To

tal


Physics 09

Information Technology 11

Engineering 04

Statistics 03

Computer Science 02

Chemistry 05

Biology 03

Pharmacy 01

Mathematics 01

Total 39

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

PhD Scholarships in Natural and Basic Sciences, Austria (Phase-II) A further programme implemented to provide opportunities to talented faculty members from higher education institutes has been launched in collaboration with the Austrian Government to support PhD studies in natural and basic sciences in leading Austrian universities. Approved by CDWP in July 2003 this four-year project has a capital cost of Rs 168.78 million, and will fund the PhD level training of 45 selected candidates.

During the year 28 scholars from the available 45 seats were selected following a rigorous examination and interview process. Provisional award letters have been issued to these candidates, and will be subject to the completion of all the necessary formalities. The scholars are expected to depart for their studies in August 2005.


PhD in Natural & Basic Sciences in France

In order to enhance indigenous capabilities in the natural and basic sciences, the HEC has launched a scholarship programme which provides opportunities for 40 faculty members of public sector universities to complete their PhD education at eminent universities in France. This programme was approved by the CDWP in July 2004 at a total capital cost of Rs 196.146 (million).

Out of the 40 available scholarship slots 19 awards have been granted, and the 21 remaining slots have been advertised. The selected scholars have initiated intensive French language courses at the Alliance Française in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi to ensure their language competencies, before departing for their PhD education in France.

PhD Scholarships for Engineering Sciences, China

In cognizance of the massive strides taken by China in the industrial sector, the HEC has aimed to capitalize upon opportunities to allow talented Pakistani students to pursue their PhD education at leading

1

555

9

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Physics Computer

Science

Chemistry Electronics Mathematics


Physics 09

Computer Science 05

Chemistry 05

Electronics 05

Mathematics 01

Total 25

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

PhD Scholarships for Basic Sciences, China

To further enhance the HRD drive in the basic sciences, the HEC has implemented a programme, launched in July 2003 at a total capital cost of Rs 198.160 Million to provide 50 scholarships to outstanding public sector university teachers and researchers in advanced fields of basic sciences to complete their PhD education in China.

Out of the 50 scholarship slots available, 35 candidates were selected in July 2004 and proceeded to China for their studies, a further five were selected in May 2005, and are currently enrolled in language courses, with the remaining 10 slots being re-advertised for a further round of selection.

universities in China, which are rapidly progressing to be rated amongst the leading universities of the world. The subject programme, launched in March 2003 at a capital cost of Rs 180.820 Million aims to provide for the PhD level training of 40 outstanding young engineers in advanced S&T fields at eminent universities in China over a period of four years.

Out of the 40 Scholarship slots available, 35 awards were granted in 2003 and a further three were granted in the year under report.

Utilization Profile (July 04-05)

Financial Utilization

34.23

6.75

47.209

37.795

0

10

20

30

40

50

2003-04 2004-05

No. of Years

Am

ou

nt

inm

illio

ns

Actual Amount Released Actual Amount Utilized

Year Phasing as per approved PC-I

(latest)



Total FEC Total FEC Total FEC Total FEC

2003-04 34.540 31.320 47.209 47.209 34.230

2004-05 36.120 36.120 27.000 6.750 37.795

2005-06 36.120 36.120

2006-07 74.04 36.120

Total 180.820 - 74.209 - 53.959 - 72.025 -

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Development of High Level S&T Manpower through Split PhD Programme

Recognizing the importance of the human resource development in knowledge-intensive industries and the requirement of a minimum level of expertise in high-technology fields, the subject programme was introduced to train 100 faculty members/researchers in fields relating to science and engineering through Split PhD Programmes. Approved in September 2001 by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting with a capital cost of Rs 334.250 million, this five year project is expected to not only increase local capabilities in S&T related fields, but will also encourage international contacts with scientists and institutes, opening up opportunities for collaborative research. Execution and monitoring of the project was transferred to the HEC in June of 2003.

During the year 2004-2005, out of 100 scholarship seats, 60 awards have been given of which 34 candidates have completed the local part of their studies and have proceeded abroad. Of the remaining 40 seats, 29 students are completing their formalities and the remaining target will be achieved by considering scholars from the waiting list.

A new batch is under process and will start their local session in Fall of 2005. A batch of five scholars will hopefully complete their local session (1-2 Years) as well foreign session in (2-3 Years)which would be most probably be by 2010.

Utilization Profile (July 04-05)

Progressive Increase Batch 1 & 2 Batch 3 & 4 Total


20

57

77

1.093

47.104 48.197

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2003-04 2004-05 Total

No. of Years

Am

ou

nt

inM

illio

ns

Actual Amount Released Actual Amount Utilized

Year Phasing as per approved PC-I

(latest)




2003-04 60.300 56.610 20.000 20.000 1.093

2004-05 45.150 45.150 57.000 57.000 47.104

2005-06 45.150 45.150

2006-07 47.550 45.150

Total 198.160 192.060 77.000 77.000 48.197

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Utilization Profile:

Below is a brief summary of total cost pattern of release and expenditures incurred during the implementation of the project:


0.122 1.019

30.196

49.015

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Years (Number)

Am

ou

nt

(Mil

lio

ns)

Utilization

Year

Phasing as per approved PC-I

(Latest)

PSDP Provision (in Rs million)

Actual Amount

Released (in Rs million)

Actual Expenditure

till June 2005 (in Rs million)


2001-02 7.500 Nil 0.122 Nil 0.122 Nil 0.122 Nil

2002-03 82.500 72.000 30.000 Nil 12.480 Nil 1.019 Nil

2003-04 149.400 144.900 60.800 Nil 60.800 Nil 30.196 Nil

2004-05 83.875 72.900 65.000 Nil 16.250 - 49.015 -

2005-06 10.975 Nil

Total 334.250 289.800 155.922 Nil 89.652 Nil 80.352 Nil

Physical Progress

48

92

44

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Batch 1 & 2 Batch 3 & 4 Total Selected

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Post Doctoral Fellowship Programme for University Teachers

The programme provides an opportunity for 100 active university teachers holding PhD degrees to work in universities and research laboratories in advanced countries in the priority fields of economic relevance. The programme aims to enhance the skills of Pakistani researchers holding PhD degrees to work in emerging fields of education and research to allow them to acquire new technologies from leading international research institutions

The Fellowship Programme was approved at the CDWP meeting held on in January 2003 at the total cost of Pak Rs 172.872 million. Awarded on merit to PhD faculty members of HEC recognized institutions, 70% of the scholarships are allocated towards scholarships in basic and applied sciences including mathematics, engineering agriculture, and bio-technology and 30% in social sciences including arts and humanities.

In the financial year 2004-05, 57 scholars were awarded fellowships achieving 92% of the total project target. From the remaining resources available through the programme, it is anticipated that a further 25 scholars will be awarded fellowships in the first quarter of the next financial year.

Batch-II 2004-05

PDFP 2004-05, Country wise Distribution

PDFP 2004-05, University wise Distribution

University No. of Post Doctoral Fellow

University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi 2

University of Karachi 3

University of Peshawar 5

University of AJK 2

Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro 1

NWFP Agriculture University, Peshawar 2

National University of Science & Technology, Rawalpindi 1

Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan 3

Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Islamabad 2

University of the Punjab, Lahore 3

University of Balochistan, Quetta 3

Country No. of Post Doctoral Fellow

UK 38

USA 4

Australia 3

Canada 2

Japan 2

Germany 1

Turkey 1

Total 51

Awarded Target Proceeded Likely to

Proceed

Returned Availing Cancelled % of Achievement

79 62 51 6 1 50 22 82.25%

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

PDFP 2004-05, Subject wise Distribution

MS/MPhil leading to PhD Scholarship in Engineering, Natural and Basic Sciences/Humanities/Social Sciences for the Teachers of Weaker Universities

The HEC has implemented targeted programmes to enhance the educational and research capacities of weaker universities in Pakistan, to ensure that an adequate amount of opportunities are available to the faculty of these universities to enhance their own qualifications, and to further impact the quality of education in their parent institutes. This Scheme was launched in August 2004 with a capital cost of Rs 612.979 provides opportunities for 100 candidates to become engaged in MS/MPhil programmes leading to PhDs in priority natural and basic sciences and social sciences/humanities fields. The scheme provides scholarships to selected candidates to complete their PhD education in leading universities in France, Austria and Germany, due to the minimal or non-existent tuition fees charged by their universities.

The Scheme was first advertised in December 2004 to seek applications for candidates from weaker universities, of which 41 applicants passed the test and qualified for interview. Of these candidates, 41 were selected during the interview process by the visiting teams from Austria, France and Germany. The scheme has been re-advertised in May 2005 to fill the remaining seats.

The parent institutions of teachers who have been awarded scholarships under this programme include:Hazara University Dhodhial, MansehraGomal University, D. I. KhanKohat University of Science and Technology, KohatKarakuram International University, GilgitUniversity of Malakand, ChakdaraUniversity of AJK, MuzaffarabadQuaid-e-Awam University of Engineering Sciences and Technology, NawabshahShah Abdul Latif University, KhairpurSindh Agriculture University, TandojamGovernment College University, FaisalabadIslamia University, BahawalpurUniversity of Sargodha, Sargodha

Subject No. of Post Doctoral Fellow

University No. of Post Doctoral Fellow

Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 3

Bahauddin Zakriya University, Multan 6

University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore 3

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 4

Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad 3

Islamia University, Bahawalpur 1

University of Sindh, Jamshoro 1

Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur 2

Federal Urdu University, Karachi 1

Total 51

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

University of Balochistan, QuettaBalochistan University of Engineering and Technology, KhuzdarBalochistan University of IT and Management Sciences, Quetta

Partial Support for PhD Studies Abroad

This Programme has been implemented to support full-time faculty members who are in the final year of completing their PhD studies abroad, and are currently not availing any stipend/scholarship through the Government of Pakistan. The support available through this programme is set at a maximum of US$15,000/- (or equivalent) for the payment of tuition fees, or any other research or study related expenses required by the university for the completion of the candidate's PhD Programme.

Applications for partial support were received from the parent universities of the faculty members, who had obtained documentary support from the directors of their graduate studies in their host institutes, stating that all preliminary requirements of the PhD degree programme were complete and that their study programmes were near completion within a year or so.

Reflected below is the university wise distribution of the three awards given to full-time faculty members during the financial year 2004-2005.

HRD Programme for Strengthening of Universities/Institutes of Higher Learning

This Scheme was approved by CDWP in October 2004, at a capital cost of Rs 198.640 million to fund the Master’s level degree training of 75 meritorious public sector institution faculty members in the field of engineering. Lanched specifically to provide for the MA level education in European countries, the scheme aims to improve local capacities to meet the changing needs of Pakistan's economy and to support technology upgrading in both institutions and industry.

The scheme was advertised three times in order to gain the maximum numbers of applicants however the response from the target group has been poor. Tests were conducted in May 2005, of which only 24 were able to achieve the qualifying grade. Following the interview proves conducted by delegations from each country, 3 candidates have been selected for France, five for The Netherlands and five for Germany, while the interviews for Sweden remain pending. Financial Status

Commencement Date: December 28, 2004Completion Date: June 27, 2007

S.No Financial Year Time Allocated Amount

Total Expenditure Balance


S. No. Institution Award Amount in Rs.

1 University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore 1 492,503

2 University of the Punjab, Lahore 1 871,673

3 Islamia University, Bahawalpur 1 140,000

Total 3 1,508,176

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Strengthening the Existing Teaching Faculties of Public Universities and Degree Awarding Institutes of Pakistan through Jointly Sponsored Scholarships Programme of HEC & Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand)

The subject programme, launched in August 2003 for three years at a capital cost of Rs 25.960 million, aims to support the Masters level education of 20, and the PhD level education of 10 leading applicant faculty members from public sector universities at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. This programme was revised during the FY 2004-2005, to increase the PhD scholarship head by a further 15%.

Financial Status

Total scholars departed in 2003-04 FY: 10 (Master-8 & PhD-2)Total scholars departed in 2004-05 FY: 03 (Master-1 & PhD-2)Total: 13Total number of scholars completed studies: 08 (07 Master & 01 PhD)Total newly selected scholars will depart in August 2005(Tentative):17

Commencement Date: August 19, 2003Completion Date: August 18, 2007

Up-to-date Financial Outlay (2003-04)

8185000

7000000

-1185000-2000000

0

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000


Series 1

S. No Financial Year Time Allocated Amount

Total Expenditure

Balance

1 2003-04 07 million 08.19 million (1.185 million)


Total 17 million 12.97 million 4.02 million

40000000

582000

39418000

0

5000000

10000000

15000000

20000000

25000000

30000000

35000000

40000000

45000000


Series 1

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Model Tenure Track System

Academic tenure systems, in operation in countries and universities across the world, provide faculty members with the not to be dismissed from their positions without cause after an initial probationary period. Tenure systems provide academic freedom by preventing instructors from being dismissed for openly disagreeing with authorities or popular opinion. Furthermore, in the realm of academic and intellectual pursuits, individuals produce higher quality output when they have job security.

To institute a mechanism for the appointment of faculty members in permanent positions on merit, the Model Tenure Track System (TTS) was launched by the HEC in 2003-04. Under this system, permanent faculty positions in universities are provided to the demonstration of excellence in an initial probationary period as determined by a body of subject-specific international experts. Coupled with higher salaries on the tenure track system as compared to the regular system currently in operation in most universities, this quality control measure ensures that only the most talented faculty members are provided with permanent employment with attractive pay structures. By July 2004, 15 Universities had either adopted the TTS or agreed to process its adoption through their statutory bodies. This figure has risen to 37 by the end of reporting period i.e. June 2005. Furthermore, the HEC has continued its efforts under its Quality Assurance Programme to meet with the Vice Chancellors of the Universities and further discuss and facilitate the adoption the Faculty Tenure Track System.

Short Term Faculty Exchange of Teachers (local)

Launched in January 2005 at a capital cost of Rs 15.480 million, the programme aims to facilitate the movement of faculty members (at the level of professor, associate professor or assistant professor at public sector universities) from one university to another for on short-term assignments ranging from one to four weeks. By doing so, the programme aims to allow students in universities across Pakistan to benefit from the expertise of leading professors in their field.

During the year, eight short-term teaching assignments for faculty members have been funded under this programme.

Long Term Foreign Faculty Hiring

The Higher Education has implemented various indigenous scholarship programmes to increase the HRD

FACULTY HIRING

Up-to-Date Financial Outlay (2004-05)

10000000

5220000

4780000

0

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000

12000000


Series 1

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

drive in fields of economic importance at universities across Pakistan. In order to ensure the quality of graduates produced under these programmes, it is critical to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of highly-qualified PhD faculty to guide the students inducted in these programmes through their PhD level training. HEC scholarship programmes to provide for the PhD training of faculty members abroad will impact the sever deficiencies of PhD faculty at Pakistani universities; however their impact will only be demonstrated over the coming 3-4 years. In order to ameliorate the critical shortage of qualified PhD supervisors, the HEC has been conducting targeted programmes to hire highly-qualified faculty from abroad.

In this regard, the Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme was launched in October 2003 under the supervision of the Executive Director of HEC, and managed by a nine-member Management Committee chaired by Professor Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, the Chairman HEC.

The Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme aims to hire 300 foreign faculty members each year for the next five years on contracts ranging from one to multiple years. These Foreign faculty members bring a tremendous wealth of knowledge and research experience, and are expected to impart a modern and progressive outlook to research-based programmes in Pakistani universities, setting norms of international academic standards to be emulated by their local colleagues. All foreign faculty inducted in the programme are required to supervise PhD level research projects, and will deliver cutting-edge graduate level courses in their academic disciplines.

Eligibility Criteria for Applicants

To attract highly-qualified faculty members from outside of Pakistan, a comprehensive package has been provided which includes one round trip air-ticket (economy class up to Rs 75,000/-). The consolidated salary packages for a foreign faculty hired under various positions offered in this programme are as:

Foreign Professor I: Pak Rs 181,250-253,750 per month (approx.3100-4300 US$ per month) Foreign Professor II: Pak Rs 118,750-201,750 per month (approx 2000-3000 US$ per month) Foreign Professor III: Pak Rs 75,250-129,250 per month (approx 1300-2275 US$ per month)

In addition the Professors would have access to the various mechanisms already available for procuring research grants, research infrastructure and other support from the HEC.

First Conference of Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme

In order to gauge the experiences of the foreign professors places at both long and short-term assignments in universities across Pakistan, and to assess the impact of the programme, a conference of the Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme was held on August 16, 2004 under the Chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman. Thirty five Foreign Professors attended the conference along with 14 university representatives. The forum discussed mechanisms of improving graduate programmes at universities in Pakistan, and the utilization of research grants provided by HEC to support these programmes.

Second Conference of Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme

A Second Conference of Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme was held on March 9, 2005 under the Chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman. Attended by 85 foreign professors, and 24 representatives from public sector universities, the conference allowed for the larger group of professors to share their experiences at their host institutions and meet with the HEC programme management staff to discuss any pending issues.

Category Qualifications Minimum Post PhD Teaching/Research

Experience

Foreign Professor FP-I PhD 12 years

Foreign Professor FP-II PhD 08 years

Foreign Professor FP-III PhD 05 years

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Executive Committee Meetings

During the year under report, there were 17 meetings of the Executive Committee conducted and chaired by the Executive Director of the HEC to finalize selection of foreign professors and to steer the hiring process.

The details of the cases finalized in the Executive Committee meetings are as under:

Graphical Representation of Selected Candidates

A Selected Candidates 264

B Joined Candidates 101

C Offer Accepted Candidates 83

D Waiting for Acceptance from Candidates 35

E Regretted to Join 35

F Deferred to Short Term 10

S.No Event No. of Cases

Approved

No. of Cases Not

Recommended

Total Cases Discussed

1 First Three Management Committee Meetings

30 0 30

2 1st Executive Committee Meeting 4 0 4

3 2nd Executive Committee Meeting 15 9 24

4 3rd Executive Committee Meeting 26 1 27

5 4th Executive Committee Meeting 20 1 21














Total 264 13 277

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Graphical Representation of Total Applicants

Short Term Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme (SFHP) / former Expatriate Faculty Hiring Programme (EFHP)

The objective of this programme is to hire 60 foreign faculty members within the specified project duration of 3 years (2003-05). Open to scholars from all disciplines, the scholars will be places at various universities and degree awarding institutions for one or two semesters between October 2003 and September 2005. An overwhelming response to this programme has meant that a total of 89 scholars have been selected, of which 46 have joined their respective place of work to date, with a further 21 scholars expected to join by October 2005. Owing to the success and popularity of this programme, the HEC aims to extend it beyond October 2005 for a further 2 years.

The programme was subject to slight modification in November 2004. Initially developed for limited disciplines and open only to expatriate Pakistanis, the programme has been revised to provide funding for all disciplines and open to scholars of all nationalities.

458

264

83 70 77

802

344

101 35 35 37

200

100200300400500600700800900

1

No. of Years

Am

ou

nt

inM

illi

on

s

Total No. of Applicants Total No. of Eligible Candidates

Not Eligible Candidates Selected Candidates

Joined Candidates Offer Accepted Candidates

Waiting for Acceptance from Candidates Regretted to Join

Deferred to Short Term Under Process Candidates

Not Recommended by Review Committee Not Responding Candidates

A Total Number of Applicants 802

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Reclamation of Talented Pakistanis Working for Promotion of Teaching and Research in Professional Universities (Reverse Brain Drain)

This three years project has been developed to facilitate the invitation of accomplished expatriate academicians and engineers to assist in teaching and research activities at the public sector Agriculture and Engineering universities in Pakistan.

During the year 2004-2005, 48 applications of professors were received of which 42 were approved for placement of professors in various institutions.

S.No Name Host Institution

1 Imran Khan Arid Agricultural University, Rawalpindi 2 Roshan A. Sheikh Bahria University, Islamabad 3 Tariq Jamil COMSATS, Abbottabad 4 Ijaz Ahmed Rauf COMSATS, Islamabad 5 Abdul Majeed Siddiqui COMSATS, Islamabad 6 Pitamber Donaid Ariel COMSATS, Islamabad 7 Khawar Sohail Siddiqui COMSATS, Islamabad 8 Tajuddin Hasan Kirmani Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 9 Rukhsana Hasan FJWU, Rawalpindi

10 Tasneem H. Kazmi GCU, Lahore 11 Amer Iqbal GCU, Lahore 12 Irfan Awan Gomal University, D. I. Khan 13 Syed Aziz Ashraf H.E.J. Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University 14 Anwar Basha H.E.J. Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University 15

Amir Hussain

HEC Islamabad

16

Khalid Aziz

HEC Islamabad

17

Uvais Qidwai

IST, Isl amabad

18

Fida Younas Khattak

KUST, Kohat

19

Abdul Ahad Kazi

Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro

20

Muhammad Ashraf

National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the

Punjab, Lahore

21

Shahid Mashiudin Khan

National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore

22

Muhammad Ashraf Tahir

National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore

23

Syed Perwez Kalim

NUST, Rawalpindi 24

Hafiz Farooq Ahmed

NUST, Rawalpindi

25

Azam Raza Khan

NUST, Rawalpindi 26

Shahzad Hussain

NUST, Rawalpindi

27

Muhammad Abaidullah Anwar

Sargodha University

28

Barbu Berceanu

SMS GC University, Lahore 29

Mircea Bacheanu

SMS GC University, Lahore

30

Zia Razzaq

UET, Pes hawar 31

Jahangir Mirza

UET, Peshawar

32

Muhammad Farooq Anwar

UET, Lahore 33

Ishtiaq Ahmed Choudhry

UET, Lahore

34

Abdul Shakoor

UET, Lahore

35

Abdullah Ahmed Malik

UET, Lahore

36

Muhammad Ayub

UET, Lahore

37

Ahmed Sana

UET, Taxila

38

Mohammad Ilyas Anjum

UET, Taxila

39

Syed Mahmood Ahmed

UET, Taxila

40

Mueen Aslam

UVAS Lahore

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Visiting Scholar Programme

The Visiting Scholar programme has been introduced to enhance the quality of teaching and research at the institutions of higher learning through the placement of eminent expatriate and Pakistani scholars on short-term teaching assignments at universities in Pakistan. A source of inspiration and guidance to both the students and teachers of their host universities, the visiting scholars are required to teach a full-credit semester course in their respective field of specialization. The actual duration of the teaching hours is to be mutually agreed upon between the scholar and host institution. The visiting scholars are expected to acquaint faculty members and the students on the recent developments in their subject, and on mechanisms of how to integrate their research into industrial applications. The scholars are will further be encouraged to be involved in revising and updating course curricula, to align them with market needs and international standards.

Details of foreign scholars that visited the universities & degree awarding institutes

Applications Received 20Applications Approved 10Applications Rejected 07Applications In-process 03Total Released Amount 0.558 million

Host Institution Scholar Name HEC Financial Support

NWFP University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar

Dr. Murtaza Haidar 183,800

NWFP University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar

Dr. Asad Jan Khattak 203,800

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad Dr. Zulfiqar Badshah 207,800

NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi

Dr. Rizwan Uddin 195,000

NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi

Dr. Ajmal Ansari 199,000

University of Engineering & Technology ,Lahore Dr. Umar Saif 199,000

University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore Dr. Iqbal Gondal 202,200

Mehran University of Eng. & Technology, Jamshoro Dr. Muhammad Yakoob Siyal

199,000

National University of Sciences & Technology Rawalpindi

Dr. Kamran Iqbal 185,400


Dr. Muhammad Awan 186,200


Dr. Jhangir Mirza 203,000


Dr. M. Asif 199,000


Dr. Mian Muhammad Haneef

223,000

Gomal University, D.I. Khan Dr. Mustaq A. Memon 199,000

Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan Dr. Sohail Murad 192,600

Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan Dr. M Ishaq Bhatti 198,200

Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan Dr. Athar Tariq 199,000

University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi Dr. Anwar Naseem 190,200

University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi Atta-ur-Rehman 198,200

TOTAL 3,763,400

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The complete status of “Visiting Scholars programmeme” during Financial Year 2004-05 is reflected below:

Month wise Status of Approved Applications

Months No. of Approved Applications

July 2004 0

August 2004 1

September 2004 2

October 2004 0

November 2004 0

December 2004 1

January 2005 0

February 2005 2

March 2005 2

April 2005 0

May 2005 0

June 2005 0

Months No. of Applications Received

July 2004 0

August 2004 2

September 2004 4

October 2004 1

November 2004 1

December 2004 1

January 2005 2

February 2005 1

March 2005 1

April 2005 4

May 2005 2

June 2005 1

0

2

4

1 1 1

2

1 1

4

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

Ju

l-0

4

Au

g-0

4

Se

p-0

4

Oct-

04

No

v-0

4

De

c-0

4

Ja

n-0

5

Fe

b-0

5

Ma

r-0

5

Ap

r-0

5

Ma

y-0

5

Ju

n-0

5

No. of Applications Received

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate National Programme (Tokten)

During the year 2004-2005, the services of foreign expatriate Pakistani consultants were made available to universities under a UNDP Programme. The bio-data received from the Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis were circulated among the universities of Pakistan, centres of excellence and other seats of higher learning in order to gauge their willingness to benefit from the expertise of the expatriate consultants.

These visits comprising of lectures, seminars and discussions are of 6-8 weeks duration and offer the financial support to cover, dearness allowance, accommodation and honorarium expenses. Through this method qualified expatriate Pakistanis are registered in the national talent pool and their services utilized towards the national development process.

IN SERVICE TRAINING

Learning and training are at the heart of higher education. They are a core activity for all higher education institutions, and feature strongly in public perceptions of the sector's role and achievements. The HEC aims to drive up quality in learning and teaching, and action to support, promote and reward excellent practice and to inform student choice. We aim to improve the status and recognition of excellent teaching and learning as a key element in the mission of higher education, alongside research. Institutions face the challenge and the opportunity to develop innovative approaches to learning that meet the changing needs of learners and society.

Our plans recognize the changing environment in which teaching and learning in higher education take place. Students will learn in a wider range of settings, and the advent of new technology offers up new ways of teaching and supporting them. With initiatives to increase access, the student body is changing, with more part-time and mature students and people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. In the modern world, people increasingly need skills of evaluating and managing information, in both their personal and working lives. Curriculum design and pedagogy within higher education must support and develop these skills and encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. We need to recognize the strong links between teaching and research across the sector, with research informing the design and content of the future higher education curriculum and providing insights into new approaches to learning and teaching, particularly in innovative modes such as e-learning.

0

1

2

0 0

1

0

2 2

0 0 00

1

2

3

Ju

l-0

4

Au

g-0

4

Se

p-0

4

Oct-

04

No

v-0

4

De

c-0

4

Ja

n-0

5

Fe

b-0

5

Ma

r-0

5

Ap

r-0

5

Ma

y-0

5

Ju

n-0

5

No. of Approved Applications

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

S. No. Name of University

1 Balochistan University of Information Technology & Management Sciences, Quetta

2 University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.

3 Balochistan University of Engineering & Technology, Khuzdar

4 Human Resources Development Centre, Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore.

5 Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan

6 Islamia University, Bahawalpur

7 Dow University of Health Sciences , Karachi

8 University of AJ&K , Muzaffarabad

9 Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat

10 NWFP University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar

11 Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam

In-service Training Programmes

Since its inception in 2002, HEC is making all out efforts to promote academic vitality by providing training opportunities that support learning & teaching, as well as assisting individuals in working effectively together within their departments and the university.

The Learning Innovation Department at HEC is involved in development of programmes and learning resources in order to improve students' learning, human resource development to provide leadership to the university community on matters concerning learning, and on issues related to university teaching.

National Academy of Higher Education

The project was launched to enhance the standards of teaching and learning throughout higher education in Pakistan. The objective of the project is to encourage and support faculty members in developing high quality, relevant and efficient teaching and learning techniques. During the period under report, the following activities were accomplished:

? A Resource Centre has been established at CTC Hall with all infrastructures such as furniture, multimedia, Internet, computers, A/V Aids etc, and an IT Trainer appointed.

? A one-day seminar on Article Writing was held at HEC, Islamabad on Dec. 18 , 2004. Jim Thorton, Editor in Chief, British Medical Journal was the resource person and 50-faculty members attended the seminar.

? A seminar on Learning Styles and Problem Solving was held on March 28-29, 2005 at HEC Islamabad. Dr. Norman Reid, Director, Centre of Science Education, University of Glasgow was the resource person and 36- faculty members attended the seminar.

? A two-week Workshop for Master Trainers was held from Feb. 22 to March 05, 2005 at HEC Islamabad, and 30 national resource persons from all over the country were at attendance.

? A Workshop on Pilot Testing of Training Materials was held from April 4 to 16, 2005 at University of Education, Lahore for finalization of Training Manuals.

? A two-day Meeting of National Resource Persons was held at HEC Regional Centre, Lahore on April 15-16, 2005 for finalization of Training Manuals draft in the light of feed back of participants of Pilot Testing Workshop.

? Six Modules were finalized, printed and will be distributed among the 4000 participants & resource persons of Staff Development Courses.

Professional Development under NAHE at 11 Centres throughout the country

stOne remarkable initiative undertaken by HEC was arranging the 1 Staff Development Course for university personnel. The Course which was started on 9th May, 2005 at 11 Resource Centres located in the universities, is spread into 68 sessions and 24 working days.

A list of the parent institutions of these resource centres is as follows:

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

In the above-mentioned resource centres more than 400 teachers are under going training. To assure the courses are conducted at pace with the desired objectives, continuous feedback and formative evaluation procedures are being implemented by the HEC.

The reports received from course coordinators, visits of NAHE staff to different centres, and the feedback from the trainees is very satisfactory. Hopefully, this effort of NAHE will go a long way in equipping the need of quality teaching at tertiary level of education in Pakistan.

The Learning & Innovation department of the HEC has also reached a collaborative arrangement with Indiana University, USA for the conduct of their online courses entitled Learning to Teach with Technology Studios (LTTS) to provide training to 40 faculty members from universities across Pakistan. In this connection, key codes have been issued to the participants for enrolment in the online programme with Indiana University.

The International Computer Driving License (ICDL) Certificate Course, which ensures participants are th

trained in essential computer competencies, was offered to 36 participants of 4 Faculty Development Programme, of which 33 participants have successfully completed the course work.

A one-month Training Programme in Developing Research Skills was held from June 1-30, 2005 at the HEC Regional Centre, Karachi. Ms Anila Asgar from McGill University, Canada was the resource person. Twenty-one faculty members from local universities attended the programme.

Faculty Development Programme

The Faculty Development Programme was designed to update and enhance the skills of faculty members in both teaching and learning methodologies. The participants of this programme found the course helpful, and an opportunity to reflect on their current practices and to improve their understanding of educational principles and approaches, and facilitate their application in day-to-day educational practice.

The Programme included the following modules:

? Research Methodologies? Curriculum Planning & Development? Testing & Assessment? Teaching & Communication Skills? Instructional Resources? Professional Development ? International Computer Driving License (ICDL)

thThe 4 3-Month Faculty Development Programme commenced on March 14, 2005 at HEC, Islamabad and concluded on June 9, 2005, in which 36 participants from various universities and degree colleges of the country participated. Highly reputed individuals, with distinguished careers in education, were engaged as resource persons in the programme.

thThe 5 3-Month Faculty Development Programme was launched on June 27, 2005, attended by 32 faculty members from various institutions and degree colleges. Prominent and experienced experts from across Pakistan were invited for the orientation of participants with the latest trends in teaching and learning process.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Training Courses for HEC employees

To improve the efficiency and skills of HEC officers and to create a conducive environment for enhanced teamwork, the Learning Innovation Division launched a series of Training Courses for HEC employees in different areas. Details are given as under:

Curriculum Based Training Courses

During the financial year the following in-service curriculum based training courses were held as under:

S. No.

No. of Participants

Venue

Duration

Date

1

18

University of the Punjab, Lahore

3 days

April 18 – 20, 2005

2

45

HEC, Islamabad

6 days

March 14 – 19, 2005

3

12

HEC, R.C. Karachi

6 days

March 28 – 30, 2005

4

19

HEC, Islamabad

5 days

July 4 – 8, 2005

S. No.

Course title Date Venue Participants Male Female

1 Statistics July 26—31 HEC, Karachi 24 17 7

2 Commerce August 2—7 HEC, Lahore 30 25 5

3 Mathematics August 16-21 HEC, Karachi 28 12 16

4 Biochemistry Sep.13-18 U/O Sindh 31 21 10

5 Environmental Science

Sep.20-25 U/O Peshawar 30 23 7

6 Geography Sep.20-25 HEC, Lahore 26 15 11

7 Maths Nov.22-27 U/O Balochistan 33 24 9

8 International Humanitarian Law

Nov.22-27 HEC, Islamabad 24 9 15

9

Botany

Dec.9-15

HEC, Karachi

29

18

11

10

Physics

Dec.20-24

AIOU, Islamabad

25

15

10

11

Physics

Dec.27-Jan.01

Gomal University,

D.I.Khan 30

28

2

12

Physics

March 21-

April 02 University of Sindh,

Jamshoro 35

13

Urdu

April 25-30

University of Peshawar

35

13

22

14

Teaching Strategies Facing the Challenges of 21st

Century

June 20 – 25

HEC, Islamabad

24

15

9

15

New Trends in Special Education

June 13 – 18


25

15

10

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

National Committee on Examination System

Draft recommendations by National Committee on Examination System were circulated among all the public sector universities of the country in order to get their views for further improvements in the system. To date, comments from 15 public sector universities have been received in the light of which the Committee is to finalize the recommendations.

Task force formed on Nursing Education

Since its inception, HEC is striving for excellence in higher education through different programmes. Enhancing the quality of nursing education is yet another initiative taken by the Chairman, through the formation of a focused taskforce of professionals involved in this field the nursing. Two meetings of the taskforce were held on the following dates, on September 18, 2004 at HEC Secretariat and October 30, 2004 at HEC Regional Centre, Karachi respectively.

Seminar on Effective Teaching & Learning

The Learning Innovation Division organized a Seminar on June 16, 2005 on Effective Teaching & Learning for students and faculty members of Institution of higher learning. Dr. Asrar Shaikh, an eminent scholar of King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals (Soudi Arabia) delivered the lecture, attended by about 100 participants. .

Workshop on Research Methodologies

A two-day workshop on Research Methodologies was organized at HEC Secretariat in which Prof. Dr. Norman Reed, the Director of the Centre of Science Education in Glasgow UK, was the resource person. The workshop was attended by 36 participants belonging to different public universities, n which they were informed about the recent developments in research methodologies.

GIVING RECOGNITION TO TEACHERS

HEC Distinguished National Professors

To acknowledge the services rendered by outstanding professors and scientists in universities and R&D organizations and to utilize their services in national organizations, the HEC has bestowed the title of Distinguished National Professors on 17 leading academics in Pakistan. Each Distinguish National Professor shown below is entitled to receive Rs 50,000/- per month as personal expense allowance and Rs 25,000/- per month as a research grant. The awardees of this title are:

Sr. # Name Amount Released in Pak Rupees

1. Prof. Dr. M. Akhtar 900,000 2. Dr. Abdul Rauf 750,000 3.

Dr. Shaikh Riazuddin

900,000

4.

Dr. S.

I. Ali

450,000

5.

Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhry

900,000

6.

Dr. Qasim Jan

450,000 7.

Dr. Nasir -ud-Din

450,000

8.

Prof. Dr. Anwa r-ul-Hassan Gilani

900,000 9.

Prof. Dr. Arshad Sheikh Saeed

900,000

10.

Prof. Dr. Rabia Hussain

900,000

11.

Dr. Viqar Uddin Ahmed

900,000

12.

Prof. Dr. Saeed Akhtar Durrani

450,000

13.

Dr. Ahmed Hassan Dani

450,000

14.

Dr. Asghar Qadir

450,000

15.

Dr. Riazuddin

450,000

16.

Prof. Tariq Rahman

–

17.

Dr. Syed Qasim Mehdi

–

Total

10,200,000

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Hiring of Eminent Scholars Holding PhD

The aim of the project is to promote research activities in indigenous institutions, and to overcome the acute shortage of PhD scholars in universities through the hiring of eminent PhD scholars. Approved by

thDDWP in its meeting held on 13 June 2004 at capital cost of Pak Rs 38.11 million, under the programme 30 scholars have been hired and placed in different public sector universities across Pakistan. The scholars are engaged for a period of two years for carrying out research and academic assignments, and are paid a fixed salary of Pak Rs 50,000/- per month.

The scholars hired under this programme, and their respective assignments are as follows:

First Batch

Sr.#

Name of University

Amount released (in Rs.)

1. Dr. Mahmood Ahmed

Professor (Retd.), Department of Biological Sciences

Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

650,000

2. Dr. Ather Yasin Khan

Professor (Retd), Department of Chemistry


875,000

3. Dr. Mustafa Shameel

Director (Retd), Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology

University of Karachi, Karachi

700,000

4. Dr. Sher Hassan

Dean (Retd), Faculty of Crop Protection Sciences

Agriculture University, Peshawar

725,000

5. Dr. Khunab Gul

Chief Scientist (Retd), PIEAS

Nilore, Islamabad

550,000

6. Dr. Jahangir Khan Khalil

Dean (Retd), Faculty of Nutrition Sciences

Agriculture University, Peshawar

550,000

7. Dr. Sajad Aslam Shami

Professor (Retd), Department of Biological Sciences


600,000

8. Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Chaudhry

Professor (Retd), Department of Geology


575,000

9. Dr. Nazir Ahmed

Professor (Retd), Department of Crop Physiology

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

725,000

10. Dr. S. H. Iqbal

Professor (Retd), Department of Botany


675,000

11. Dr. S.

A.

H. Zaidi

S.R.O (Retd), Fuel Research Centre

PCSIR, Karachi

375,000

Total

70,00,000

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Second Batch

Third Batch

Sr.# Name of UniversityAmount released (in Rs.)

1. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Ibrahim Chief Engineer (Retd)PAEC, Islamabad

575,000

2. Dr. Syed Razi Abbas ShamsiProfessor (Retd), Department of BotanyUniversity of the Punjab, Lahore

450,000

3. Dr. Khalid RasheedChief Scientist officer (Retd)PAEC Islamabad

450,000

4. Dr. Syed Munir Mehdi Raza NaqviProfessor (Retd) of PhysicsUniversity of Karachi, Karachi

600,000

5. Dr. Khushnood Ahmed SiddiquiChief Scientist (Retd)PAEC, Tandojam

630,000

6. Dr. Mrs. Afsari Sharif QureshiProfessor (Retd)Department of Biological SciencesQuaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

300,000

7. Dr. Tehseen AmanChief Scientist Officer (Retd)PCSIR, Lahore

600,000

8. Dr. Mohammad Afzal ShaikhHead (Retd) Nuclear Physics DivisionPINSTEC, Islamabad

534,965

9. Dr. Syed Nawab Haider NaqviDirector (Retd)PIDE, Islamabad

300,000

10. Dr. Fazail KhanProfessor (Retd)Islamia University , Bahawalpur

600,000

11. Dr. Mrs. Mussarat Hassan Associate Professor (Retd), Department of Fine ArtsLahore College for Women University, Lahore

600,000

Total 5,639,965

Sr.# Name of UniversityAmount released (in Rs.)

1. Dr. Arifa FaridProfessor (Retd), Department of PhilosophyUniversity of Karachi, Karachi

124,180

2. Dr. Fayyazuddin Professor (Retd), Department of PhysicsQuaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

124,840

3. Dr. Imtiaz AhmedProfessor (Retd), Department of ZoologyUniversity of Karachi, Karachi

295,161

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Best University Teacher Awards

The Best University Teacher Awards for the academic year 2003-2004, were conferred upon 28 leading

Faculty members from public sector universities and degree awarding institutions in a ceremony held in

March 2005. In this special ceremony held at the HEC Secretariat, Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman awarded each

academic a certificate and cash prize of Pak Rs 1,00,000/-.

Presidential Awards

The HEC seeks nominations from universities and degree awarding institutions for Presidential Awards

under various categories on behalf of the Ministry of Education. These awards include:

1) Izaz-e-Kamal: (One cash award of Rs 50,000/- and medal) Award is given to a teacher who has

all-round best performance to his credit in science, engineering, arts, philosophy, history or

literature etc.

2) Izaz-e-Fazeelat: Total 15 cash awards out of which 7 are recommended by HEC with Rs 20,000/-

and medal each: Award is given to teachers who have shown excellent performance under

various categories and have made extra ordinary contributions.

Categories of the Award (seven at HEC level)

a) Three awards for best quality researchers.

b) Three awards for best teachers on the basis of producing best text books.

c) One award for all-rounder teacher.

4. Dr. Khalid Mahmood Professor & Chairperson, Department of Fine ArtsLahore College for Women University, Lahore

262,500

5. Dr. Safdar MahmoodProfessor of Political Science GC University, Lahore

150,000

6. Dr. Shagufta ZulfiqarProfessor (Retd) Researcher, Department of Chemistry, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad

129,032

7. Dr. Syed Moosa HasanyAssociate Prof. (Retd), Department of Chemistry Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences P.O. Nilore, Islamabad

150,000

8. Muhammad Shafi Professor (Retd), Department of English Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad

150,000

Total 13,85,713

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Ten nominations were recommended by the Expert Committee, and were as follows:

a) 3 nominations for Izaz-i-Kamal (against one award) for extraordinary lifetime contributions

b) 7 nominations for Izaz-e-Fazeelat, 07 (against seven) in the following categories:

c) Best quality researchers: 03

d) Best Text Books : 03

e) All-rounder: 01

3) Izaz-e-Sabqat: A total of total 18 awards, one each for Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan, AJK

and FATA/FANA at BA/BSc, MA/MSc and professional levels with cash prize Rs 10,000/- and a

medal in the following categories.

a) one award for BA/BSc level for each province : 6

b) one award for MA/MSc level for each province : 6

c) one award for Professional level for each province : 6

About 100 nominations at BA/BSc, MA/MSc and professional levels were received. Out of these

nominations, 18 were recommended and forwarded to Ministry of Education as follows:

a) BA/BSc level : 5 nominations

b) MA/MSc level : 6 nominations

c) Professional level : 7 nominations

Civil Awards

During the financial year, the HEC sought nominations of teachers in the higher education sector on

behalf of Government of Pakistan/Ministry of Education for the following awards:

a) Nishan-e-Imtiaz.

b) Hilal-e-Imtiaz

c) Sitara-e-Imtiaz

d) Pride of Performance

e) Tamgha-e-Imtiaz

After due evaluation by the HEC Award Committee, the following number of teachers/researchers from

the universities and degree awarding institutions were recommended for various Civil Awards purely on

merit for the year 2004.

S.No. Name of Award No. of Recommendees

1. Hilal-e-Imtiaz 5

2. Sitara-e-Imtiaz 9

3. Pride of Performance 10

4. Tamgha-e-Imtiaz 10

The names of the selected candidates for both Civil and Presidential Awards are to be announced by the

Government on August 14, 2005.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

BSc Level

Total: 83

Grand Total: 98+83 = 181

MSc Level

Talent Farming Scheme

Applications for award of scholarships for the year 2004-2005 were invited from eligible candidates in

March 2005. An aptitude test was conducted by the HEC at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Multan,

Faisalabad, Hyderabad and Quetta in May 2005 for selection of candidates.

A total of 98 scholarships were awarded at MSc level and 83 scholarships at BSc level. Details are reflected

as under:

Sr. #

Subject Punjab NWFP Sindh Balochistan FATA/FANA

AJK

1. Physics 1 - 1 1 1 -

2. Chemistry 18 8 5 1 2 -

3. Biology - - 1 - - -

4. Math 8 - 2 - 1 1

5. Stat 21 1 2 - - 1

6. Economics 1 - 2 - - -

7. Zoology 6 7 6 - - -

8. Total 55 16 19 2 4 2

Sr. #

Subjects Punjab NWFP Sindh Balochistan FATA/FANA

AJK

1 Physics, Chemistry, Math

20 1 2 - 2 -

2 Physics, Chemistry, Biology

25 8 3 - 2 -

3 Physics, Math, Computer Science

12 2 1 - - -

4 Physics, Math, Stat 2 - - - - -

5 Math, Stat, Economics - - 1 - - -

6 Math, Stat, Computer Science

1 - - - - -

7 Physics, Biology, Math - - 1 - - -

Total 60 11 8 - 4 -

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Support to Scientific Talent

During the year (2004-05), the 10 batches consisting of 5576 candidates were provided with allowances.

For recruitment of 10th batch, applications were invited through advertisement in the national press and

1004 candidates were enrolled. They were placed in various universities for higher studies and in research

organizations for research assignments.

An amount of Rs 14.976 million was released for payment of subsistence allowance to all selected

candidates for a period of one year.

During the year, three quarterly installments amounting to Rs 1,819,200/- and an amount of Rs 574,200/- th thas second installment respectively for 9 and 10 batch awardees of universities/colleges of Islamabad-

Rawalpindi region and Azad Kashmir, were released, and second installment amounting to Rs 574,200/-

was released to 10th batch awardees of local universities/colleges.

First installment of scholarship amounting to Rs 29,90,000/- was released to all the awardees through the

concerned universities/colleges.

In addition, an amount of Rs 409,500/- for 18 and 9 scholarships at BSc and MSc level respectively on the

directive of Wafaqi Mohtasib, were released to those students who appeared in the test but could not

pass the same against vacant quota seats for the session 2003-04.

During the year 2004-2005, an amount of Rs 1,839,500/- as 2nd installment for payment to scholarship

holders of the Talent Farming Scheme for the Session 2003-2004 was released to the HEC Regional

Centres of Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi to disburse on receipt of satisfactory result. Whereas, an

amount of Rs 526,500/- was released to universities/colleges of Islamabad-Rawalpindi Region and Azad

Kashmir as per the same condition as referred to in the above.

Amount released to three HEC Regional Centres (10th batch) 11,922,200

Amount released to local awardees (10th batch) 574,200

Amount released to local awardees (9th batch) 1,165,100

Other expenditure during the year 28,711

Total 13,690,211

Amount released to three HEC Regional Centres (Session 2003-04) 1,839,500

Amount released to local awardees (Session 2003-04) 526,500

Other expenditure during the year 61,000

Committed (2004-05 & 2003-04 left over cases and advertisement bill etc.)

3,934,648

Total 6,361,648

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The Book Bank Scheme

Recently Book Bank Scheme Phase-III was approved at a cost of Rs 195.580 million for a period of two years for supply of 234000 copies of textbooks to the departmental libraries of universities and degree awarding institutions where the students can make use of these textbooks throughout the academic year. In near future, the National Book Foundation, being a government organization, will be assigned the task of supplying the textbook to all the public sector universities / degree awarding institutions as per detail given below:

No. of disciplines = 18

No of titles = 25

No. of Universities / DAIs = 52

No. of titles/Copies to each University/

Degree Awarding Institution = 10

Total No. of copies to be reprinted/supplied = 234000

Receipt of funds is awaited.

REPORTANNUAL

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

39

IMPROVING ACCESSIMPROVING ACCESS

1 ACCESS STATISTICS

INTRODUCTION

Widening access and improving participation in higher education represent a vital part of our mission and form one of the core strategic aims of our organization. Increased participation in higher education will equip our people to operate productively within the global knowledge economy. It also offers social benefits, including better health, lower crime and a more tolerant and inclusive society.

Accordingly, we aim to ensure that all those with the potential to benefit from higher education have the opportunity to do so, regardless of socio-economic background. With an ever-increasing population and increasing demands from the economy, widening and increasing participation is a permanent goal of the higher education sector.

A report of the Steering Committee on Higher Education Reform published in 2001 rated the tertiary enrolment ratios in Pakistan as amongst the worst in the world- at only 2.6%, at a par with sub-saharan African countries. The major causes attributed to the historical low level of enrollment were: firstly, a corresponding crisis of coverage and access at the primary and secondary levels i.e. the feeding mechanism; and secondly, at the university level, the prohibitive costs of obtaining an education. While regular tuition fees are relatively low, the corresponding costs of living associated with a university education far outstrip the average annual family income.

Accordingly, our objectives in this area are to significantly increase enrolment in undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes at universities, providing opportunities for higher education to talented students regardless of need or socio-economic background. In addition, we aim to ensure the expansion of the sector required to accommodate the requirements of an ever-increasing population, and to meet the economic development objectives of the nation. As well as ensuring that institutions are equipped with the necessary infrastructure to absorb an increased student population, we aim to enhance the number of public sector universities and facilitate private sector universities in the provision of higher education. The expansion of the sector will be dependant on the institutions assuring that stringent standards of quality are adhered to in all aspects.

Increased participation is, however, not simply a matter of providing more places. The sector must increase the demand for higher education by instilling the values of tertiary education and raising student aspirations, to stimulate progression from schools and colleges to universities.

We are developing plans to increase the supply of places to meet with increased demand. In addition to working with the sector to develop innovative approaches and provide suitable learning experiences for

st the students of the 21 century, we are also taking into account the willingness and capacity of institutions to expand. This is a complex task which requires bringing into balance student demand, capacity in the sector and employers' needs.

The Statistics Unit of the Higher Education Commission was established in September 2004, with the objective to collect and compile accurate information regarding Universities and Degree Awarding Institutions (DAIs) on tertiary education. This will serves as the major source of information for the planners and policy makers.

1.1 Number of Universities /DAIs in Pakistan

At the time of creation of Pakistan in 1947, there were only two Universities in Pakistan, namely University of the Punjab and University of Sindh, Jamshoro. The first university in the private sector was the Aga

ndKhan University established on 2 March 1983. There has been a sharp increase in the number of universities, both in public and private sector after 1995-96. Figure 1 shows the details of the number of universities/DAIs since 1947 to 2004-05.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

40

Fig 1: The Number of Universities/DAIs in Public and Private Sector since 1947-48 to 2004-05

Furthermore, the number of Universities and Degree Awarding Institutions in Public and Private Sector are given in Table 1.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Table 1: The number of Universities and Degree Awarding Institutions in Public and Private Sector

* DHA Suffa University Karachi and Nazeer Hussain University have been withdrawn from HEC list, as they are not in operation due to lack of physical, financial & academic infrastructure.

Note: The years where there was no change in data have not been mentioned, i.e. between 1970 and 1971.

During the Financial Year 2004-2005, a number of new universities have been established. These are identified in Table 2 as follows:

41

Table 2: New Universities established during the Financial Year 2004-2005

1. The GIFT University, Gujranwala Act No.XIV of 2004Dated 10.06.2004

Private

2. The University of Management & Technology, Lahore

Act No.XV of 2004Dated 16.06.2004

Private

3. The Superior College, Lahore Act No.XVI of 2004Dated 16.06.2004

Private

4. The Forman Christian College, Lahore – university status

Act No. XXIII of 2004 dated 12.10.2004

Private

5. The University of East, Hyderabad Act No. XI of 2004 dated 28.07.2004

Private

6. The Indus Institute of Higher Education, Karachi Ordinance No.IV of 2004dated 20.10.2004

Private

7. The Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Lasbela, Balochistan

Ordinance No.1 of 2005 dated 10.3.2005

Public

8. Frontier Women University, Peshawar Act No.VI of 2005 11.02.2005

Public

1989-90 20 - 2 - 3 - 0 -

1990-91 20 - 2 - 3 - 0 -

1991-92 20 - 2 - 3 - 0 -

1992-93 21 - 3 - 3 - 0 -

1993-94 22 - 3 - 3 - 0 -

1994-95 25 - 4 - 3 - 2 -

1995-96 25 - 7 - 3 - 3 -

1996-97 27 - 7 - 3 - 4 -

1997-98 27 - 10 1 3 - 5 -

1998-99 28 1 10 1 3 - 5 -

1999-00 31 2 13 1 4 - 6 -

2000-01 32 2 14 1 5 - 8 -

2001-02 36 2 20 1 5 - 13 -

2002-03 45 2 31 1 7 1 13 -

2003-04 47 3 34 1 8 1 17 -

2004-05* 47 3 32 1 8 1 17 -

2004-05 47 3 34 1 8 1 19 -

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

1.1 University Enrolment Data

In order to obtain a set of reliable statistics from universities, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed by the Statistics division of the HEC which was sent to all of the Universities and Degree Awarding Institutions (DAIs) in Pakistan in both the Public and Private sector.

Of the 107 Universities and DAI's in the country, the completed questionnaire was provided by 101. Since the establishment of the Higher Education Commission in 2002, there has been a significant increase in the annual enrolment figures, as the statistics of this exercise suggest.

Table 3: Student Enrolment at Universities during Period 2001-2004

To

tal N

um

ber

of

Stu

den

ts

Fig 2: Student Enrolment at Universities (including all Campuses and Constituent Colleges) during Period 2001-2004

1.1.1 Gender Enrolment

The statistics generated demonstrate the success of policies adopting principles of gender equality in enrolment, tapping into the productive capacity of women by enhancing their opportunities for higher education- a factor critical to the socio-economic development of the country. Whilst the total number of Male students enrolled in higher education remains higher than that of women, the increase in enrollment of female students was seen to be significantly higher in 2003-2004, with the enrolment of men increasing by 19.6% over the previous year and that of women increasing by 39.8%.

Nu

mb

er

of

Stu

den

ts (

000)

Fig 3: Gender-wise Enrolment during 2001-04

42

174

102

204

128

244

179

0

40

80

120

160

200

240

280

320

Male Female

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

276

332

423

0

80

160

240

320

400

480

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Fig 4: Percentage of Male and Female Student Enrolment during 2001-04.

Table 4: Gender-wise Enrolment at Universities/DAI (including Constituent Colleges) by Level of Degree during the Period 2001-04

* = Including Distance Learning

Table 5: Gender-wise Enrolment at Universities/DAI (including Constituent Colleges) by Area during the Period 2001-04

Table 6: Gender-wise Enrolment at Public and Private Sector Universities/DAI (including Constituent Colleges) during the Period 2001-04

43

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04Sector

Male Female Male Female Male Female

Public 141569 90832 162407 114077 199553 162575

Private 32935 10938 41272 13989 44960 16148

Total 174504 101770 203679 128066 244513 178723

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04Level of Degree Male Female Male Female Male Female

Bachelors 117827 68654 137695 86595 167072 128640

Master 48255 30274 56714 37810 64879 43788

MPhil 2556 1315 3150 1692 4708 2746

PhD 2435 689 3122 1016 4662 1810

PGD 3431 838 2998 953 3192 1739

Total 174504 101770 203679 128066 244513 178723

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04Area

Male Female Male Female Male Female

Federal * 62184 48160 75876 62795 97927 97893

AJK 1111 516 1527 671 1676 708

Balochistan 3425 959 3670 1085 4421 1360

NWFP 22811 7183 25310 7976 27546 9134

Punjab 40364 21218 48535 29088 62224 40557

Sindh 44609 23734 48561 26451 50719 29071

Total 174504 101770 203679 128066 244513 178723

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

1.1.1 Area-Wise Enrolment

The maximum enrolment of students by province during the period 2001-2002 was in Sindh, however, over the following years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of students in the Punjab. During the period 2003-2004 enrolment in the Punjab was 104,956 students whereas in Sindh the total was 79,790 students during 2003-04. Each progressive year has demonstrated a significant increase in the number of students enrolled in Distance Learning programmes. Area wise enrolment for year 2001-04 is shown in Figure 4.

Fig 4a: Annual Area and Sector wise Enrolment at Universities/DAI + Constituent Colleges

during 2001-2004

Fig 4b: Annual Area and Sector wise Enrolment at Universities/DAI + Constituent Colleges

during 2001-2004

Fig 4c: Annual Area and Sector wise Enrolment at Universities/DAI + Constituent Colleges

during 2001-2004

Stu

dents

(000)

Stu

dents

(000)

Stu

dents

(000)

44

0306090

120150180

D. Learning Federal AJK Balochistan NWFP Punjab Sindh

2003-04

0

30

60

90

120

150

180


2002-03

0

3060

90

120150

180


Distance Learning (Public) Public Private Total

2001-02

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

45

Table 7: Enrolment at Universities/DAI + Constituent Colleges by Area and Sector during

2001-02


2002-03


2003-04

1.2.3 Enrolment by Level of Degree

The number of students enrolled in both the public and private sector universities in Pakistan during 2003-

2004 totalled 423,236. The percentage breakdown of this number by level of degree is as follows:

Table 10: Percentage breakdown of students Enrolment by number of degrees

Bachelors 68.87%

Masters 25.67%

MPhil 1.76%

PhD 1.53%

Postgraduate Diploma/Certificates 1.17%

Sector Distance

Learning

Federal AJK Balochistan NWFP Punjab Sindh

Public 108709 26305 1870 4374 27988 63945 43293

Private - 3657 328 581 5298 13678 31719

Total 108709 29962 2198 4955 33286 77623 75012

Sector Distance

Learning


Public 89749 17791 1568 4110 25425 51071 42687

Private - 02804 59 274 4569 10511 25656

Total 89749 20595 1627 4384 29994 61582 68343

Sector Distance

Learning


Public 159257 31843 2005 5217 30815 86032 46959

Private - 4720 379 564 5865 16749 32831

Total 159257 36563 2384 5781 36680 102781 79790

Table 11: Number of Students Enrolled by Sector and Level of Degree over the Years

46

Sector Year Bachelor Master MPhil PhD PGD Total

2001-02 156141 66675 3683 3061 2841 232401

2002-03 186602 78709 4462 4045 2666 276484

Public

2003-04 252841 92613 6802 6277 3595 362128

2001-02 30340 11854 188 63 1428 43873

2002-03 37688 15815 380 93 1285 55261

Private

2003-04 42871 16054 652 195 1336 61108

2001-02 186481 78529 3871 3124 4269 276274

2002-03 224290 94524 4842 4138 3951 331745

Overall

2003-04 295712 108667 7454 6472 4931 423236

Fig 5: Number of Students Enrolled for Different Level of Degree over Years

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Bachelors Masters M.Phil Ph.D PGD/Cert.

Level of Education

Stu

de

nts

(00

0)

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

1.3 Type of Institutions

There are three types of Universities/DAIs operating in Pakistan

i. Distance Learning Universities, i.e Allama Iqbal Open University and Virtual University

ii. Public Sector Universities/DAIs

iii. Private Sector Universities/DAIs

The share of distance learning universities in total enrollment during 2002-03 and 2003-04 has been

increasing as compared to previous years, whereas the share of public and private sector universities has

reduced, due to the greater rate of enrolment in distance education programmes. Figure 7 shows student

enrollment figures with respect to type of University.

Private universities/DAIs are more popular among the students in the province of Sindh as compared to other

areas of the country, with a share of 42%. In Punjab, NWFP and Federal area the share of private universities

is unchanged since 2001-02. In AJK and Balochistan the share is steadily increasing as depicted in Figure 8.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

47

Fig 6: Share of Type of Universities/DAI in Total Enrolment during 2003-04

Fig 7: Student Enrolment Classified by Type of University/DAI

Fig 8: Share of Public and Private Sector Universities in Student Enrolment Excluding

Distance Learning Universities Classified by Area during 2003-04

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Distance Learning Public Private Total

Nu

mb

er

of

Stu

den

ts(0

00

)

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

0153045607590

Bachelors Masters MPhil PhD PGD/Cert.

Level of Education

Stu

de

nts

(00

0)

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 Level of

Degree

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Bachelor

31714

25535

57249

37243

33372

70615

40350

41714

82064

Master

19178

12305

31483

19879

13729

33608

18928

13105

32033

MPhil

393

284

677

470

363

833

516

343

859

PhD

155

72

227

206

84

290

216

78

294

PGD

1332

565

1897

1534

619

2153

1789

1017

2806

Total

52772

38761

91533

59332

48167

107499

61799

56257

118056

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

Sector

Male Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Male

Female

Total

Public 47293 36705 83998 52659 45637 98296 53064 53150 106214

Private 54793 2056 7535 6673 2530 9203 8735 3107 11842

Total 52772 38761 91533 59332 48167 107499 61799 56257 118056

1.4 Student Output

The number of students produced at different levels of tertiary education by the public and private sector

universities/DAIs has been increasing over recent years. It is projected that following the maturity of various

HRD programmes, these numbers will increase significantly in the near future.

Table 12: Number of Students Produced by Level of Degree during 2001-04

Fig 9: Number of Students Produced by Level of Degree

Table 13: Number of Students Produced by Public and Private Sector during 2001-04

48

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

* = Due University of Education

* * = Including Distance Learning

Table 14: Number of Students Produced by Area during 2001-04

1.5 Faculty

1.5.1 Full and Part Time Faculty

There were 37,428 faculty members during 2003-04, out of which 14,616 were Full-Time and 22,812

were Part Time faculty members in the Public and Private sector universities. The major contribution in

part time faculty is that of Distance Learning universities having 17,620 faculty members.

The share of part time faculty to total faculty was 21.12 % and 36.00% in Public sector (excluding Distance

Learning) and Private sector universities respectively. Number of Full and Part Time faculty is given in Table

15. Full-Time faculty members according to their highest degree are given in Table 16 and shown in Fig 10.

Table 15: Number of Full and Part Time Faculty Members by Public & Private Sector

Universities/DAIs during 2003-04

Table 16: Full-Time Faculty Members Classified by their Highest Qualification during 2003-04

49

Sector Bachelors Masters Master (H) MPhil. PhD Total

Distance

Learning

9 110 0 22 41 182

Public 1059 4525 1319 1019 2549 10471

Private 1151 1480 508 284 540 3963

Overall 2219 6115 1827 1325 3130 14616

Sector Full-Time Part Time Total

Distance Learning 182 17620 17802

Public 10471 2975 13446

Private 3963 2217 6180

Overall 14616 22812 37428

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 Area

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Federal ** 27219 23752 50971 30313 28700 59013 30211 31276 61487

AJK

359

161

520

491

240

731

422

167

589

Balochistan

927

309

1236

909

320

1229

849

321

1170

NWFP

7435

2682

10117

7867

2841

10708

7492

3080

10572

Punjab

8759

6534

15293

11814

10380

22194

12794

*15266

28060

Sindh

8073

5323

13396

7938

5686

13624

10031

6147

16178

Total

52772

38761

91533

59332

48167

107499

61799

56257

118056

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Fig 10: Full-Time Faculty Members, classified by their Highest Qualification

1.5.2 Student-Teacher Ratio

Number of Students per teacher during year 2003-04 is given in Table 18.

Table 18: Student-Teacher Ratio for the Year 2003-04

1.6 Population having Access to University Education

Estimated population aged between 18 to 26 years, student enrolment at university campus and literacy level at university campus is given in Table 19.

Estimated population aged between 18 to 23 Years, student enrolment at university campus excluding PhD and literacy level at university campus is given in Table 20.

* Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2004-05 and Pakistan Statistical Year Book 2002-03

Table 19: Percentage of Population Between Age Group 18 to 26 years, Enroled at University Campus for Higher Education

50

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Bachelors Masters Masters (H) MPhil. PhD

Fa

cu

lty

Me

mb

ers

Distance Learning Public Sector Private Sector

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

* Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2004-05 and Pakistan Statistical Year Book 2002-03

Table 20: Percentage of Population Between Age Group 18 to 23 years, Enroled at University Campus for Higher Education

1.7 Finances

Total budget, expenditure on research and library from non - development (recurring) budget, development

and non-development expenditure excluding the amount of projects and income generated by the

universities through their own sources during 2003-04 is given in Table 21.

Funds provided by the Higher Education Commission to the Public Sector universities for development and

non-development expenditures are given in Table 22.

* = Excluding the amount of projects.

Table 21: Total Budget, Expenditure on Research and Library from Recurring Budget, Recurring & Non-Recurring Expenditure and Income Generated through Own Sources by

Public and Private Sector during 2003-04 ( Million Rs.)

Table 22: Funds Provided by the Higher Education Commission to the Public Sector

Universities for Non-Development and Development Expenditure for the period 2001-05

51

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

Three major needs-based scholarship schemes have been initiated for meritorious needy Pakistani

university students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in various disciplines. The primary principle

exercised in the implementation of these programmes is to ensure that meritorious candidates, regardless

of financial background, are able to gain access to quality higher education. Accordingly, the HEC aims to

assist universities in building capacity in the needs-assessment process, end to ensure that a mechanism

is in place to ensure the effective implementation of this process.

The scholarship schemes implemented aim at providing financial support in the form of tuition fees, living

expenses, incidental and book-costs to financially disadvantaged university students who are able to

secure their admission in participating public and private institutions on merit.

2.1 US Need Based Scholarships for Pakistani University students enrolled in Agriculture

and Business Administration

The HEC has signed an agreement with the United State Agency for International Development (USAID)

worth US$ 7.33 million on July 2, 2004 to provide financial assistance to needy meritorious students in the

fields of Agriculture and Business Administration, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Participating institutions have been selected on the basis of feasibility study conducted by an independent

consultancy firm. The total number of scholarships under this programmeme is 1000, of which the

Scholarship Management Committee has approved 292 scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate

students in the universities with a total amount of Rs 35.99 million to support the academic pursuits of

these students.

2.2 Japanese Needs-Based Merit Scholarships for Pakistani University students

With the approval of ECNEC, the project of Japanese Needs-Based Scholarships for 1500 Pakistani

students, at a capital cost of Rs 596.600 million was launched in March 2005. A third of the project cost

will be provided by the Government of Japan as grant-in-aid.

Initially 6 disciplines (Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Business Administration, IT and

Telecommunication, Engineering, Social Sciences and Basic Sciences) are included in this project, with a

further expansion to be carried out in the second phase.

2.3 Financial Support for Meritorious Needy Students for study in Top Public/Private

institutions at Graduate Level

The project of providing merit and need based scholarships to the needy students in life sciences has

been initiated by HEC under the SV &QA Division in April 2005. The time duration set for this project is 60

months with a financial the allocation of Rs 122.42 million. This project covers the disciplines of Pharmacy

at Bachelors level, Biotechnology and Bio-medics at Masters Level.

Under this project, 300 scholarships will be provided to 300 needy students at country level in different

public sector universities and institutions.

2 NEEDS BASED SCHOLARSHIPS

52

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The Higher Education Commission is determined to meet the challenges offered by the Information Age,

to recognize and exploit the opportunities created in the new knowledge-society, so that ICTs can be

utilized in Pakistan as a potential force for capacity building and ultimately economic development. The

HEC has developed a comprehensive ICT strategy as an integral part of the broad development strategy,

so that ICT can be effectively utilized to address fundamental development challenges of poverty

reduction and sustainable economic development. This strategy has accelerated the transformation

process, by providing the infrastructure backbone necessary for conduct of research, and the delivery

high quality information and distance learning applications.

The numerous efforts of the reform process to revitalize institutions into world-class seats of learning and

research have injected an influx of scholars into institutions through various programmes. The increased

research activity is complemented by the provision of high quality ICT services and infrastructure to

deliver educational services to institutions across the country.

3.1 Pakistan Education & Research Network (PERN)

The Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN) is a part of the overall vision and objective of IT

Action Plan and was launched by Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, during his term as Minister of Science and

Technology. The project has been financed by the Government of Pakistan in cooperation with PTCL

(Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited) Research and Development funds. The network is

designed, operated, and maintained by NTC (National Telecommunication Corporation) and is managed

by HEC. The project is aimed towards establishing an integral part of the overall education system of the

country and is designed to interlink all public and private sector chartered universities and degree

awarding institutes registered with HEC. The interconnectivity of all these institutes is providing

integration of data banks, collaboration for research and development activities and up gradation of

teaching and learning skills.

In order to strengthen and restructure this network, HEC has launched PERN II. The following section

highlights the numerous services that are reflected under this Programme for the financial years 2003-04,

2004-05, 2005-06 respectively.

3 ICT to IMPROVE ACCESS to EDUCATION

53

3.1.1 PERN at Glance

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

54

3.1.2 Achievements and Future Plans of PERN

3.1.2.1 Membership of APAN

During the year under report the Pakistan Education & Research Network (PERN) has become a primary

member of Asia-Pacific Advanced Network (APAN). The purpose for acquiring the membership has been

to increase the international collaboration & research activities of PERN with other world wide community

networks. APAN is designed to be a high-performance network for research and development on

advanced next generation applications and services. Its core function lies in coordinating and promoting

network technology developments, advances in network-based application services and cultivating an

advanced networking environment for research and education communities in the Asia-Pacific region.

The restructuring of the PERN infrastructure through the implementation of a private IP scheme and

NATing is under way and is expected to complete shortly.

3.1.2.2 PERN Competitions

After the success of the initial PERN Logo competition this year, successive competitions are being

planned to promote the awareness of PERN and its services among students, researchers and faculty

members. The competitions planned are identified below:

1. Digital Library Competition among institutes for usage of Digital Library

2. Open Access Competition among institutes for most upload of quality research work

3. Video-Conferencing among institutes for highest level of participation and hosting of video

conferences, seminars and lectures

3.1.2.3 45 MB Downlink

The 45 MB downlink through PAKSAT I has been finalized and this bandwidth will be distributed among

public sector universities. It will enhance research work at universities and improve their intellectual

sharing capabilities with international universities.

REPORTANNUAL

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

PROMOTING EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCHPROMOTING EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH

55

INTRODUCTION

In today's economy, the creation of new knowledge and its transformation into new products and services

are fundamental to economic growth. This process of innovation is key to the success for economies and

therefore an effective innovation system the network and linkages of public and private bodies which

conduct and promote innovation is fundamental to the economic development of Pakistan. Innovation is

the critical basis for competition in global markets, and is the major determinant of enhanced productivity

and competitive advantage.

The science system, essentially public research laboratories and institutes of higher education, carries out

key functions in the knowledge-based economy, including knowledge production, transmission and

transfer. The establishment of a dynamic and productive science system that can fuel the process of

innovation critical for the development of Pakistan's knowledge economy is at the core of the HEC's

contribution to Pakistan. The cornerstone of our strategy in this regard is to enable and nurture truly

world-class research at indigenous institutions, and to ensure that the research enterprise is sufficiently

integrated with industry. We recognize that this can only be achieved in a research base that is properly

funded, where there is critical mass, and with valued and well motivated researchers.

The HEC's programmes to establish the competitiveness of the research base in a global context are

geared towards recognizing and supporting truly excellent research financially and fostering effective

collaboration. Aligned with the human resource and faculty development programmes of the Commission,

our programmes are aimed at enabling researchers to respond to new trends and developments in their

fields, and to generate new knowledge critical to the national innovation system. The HEC has targeted its

programmes towards supporting the development of the research enterprise to come to grips with

possible future directions of S&T to capture the potential social, economic and environmental benefits

that may accompany such technological advances. The successful exploitation of new technologies is now

a core component of achieving and maintaining international competitiveness, and we aim for Pakistan to

benefit from these opportunities.

The programmes implemented by the Commission to establish a culture of research in indigenous

institutions are approaching the sector in a holistic manner. The aim has been to create an environment

conducive to the conduct of world-class research, through the human resource effort to improve the PhD

qualifications of research supervisors, to meet short-term deficiencies through the hiring of international

experts, and to create a pool of talented research students through competitive scholarship programmes.

Coupled with Infrastructure support programmes, the establishment of new laboratories and specialized

instrumentation centres, and providing ICT solutions including high connectivity and a world-leading

online digital library resource, the HEC aims to reestablish research as the primary activity of our

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

universities. A wealth of funding opportunities have been provided to support innovative research

projects, and mechanisms have been put into place to ensure the relevance of this research to national

priorities, and the integration of the research process with the industrial sector.

NATIONAL RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAMME

This is a mega-project of the HEC through which Research Grants are awarded to faculty members of

universities and degree awarding institutes in all areas of science, technology, social sciences and

humanities. Primarily open to faculty and researchers from public sector universities, the programme

encourages interaction with private sector institutes by entertaining research proposals in which

researchers from institutions in both sectors work in a collaborative manner.

In order to ensure standards of excellence in research are adhered to, the eligibility criteria for the

programme requires that the researcher (Principal Investigator) hold an advanced academic degree, have

relevant research experience, a sound publication record and hold a full-time position in a public sector

university/institution. All received research grant proposals are sent for peer-review, i.e. scrutiny

evaluation by two experts in the field of proposed research, and subject to this evaluation, the award of

the grant is made.

The duration of funding of Research Grants is two to three years. The award entitles the researcher to

purchase of scientific apparatus/equipment, laboratory supplies and consumables, utilities, special

literature, online literature, and other items that may be needed for the research project. The Grants also

provide for honoraria for the principal investigator (and co-principal investigator if justified), the salaries

of research associates and supporting staff, and domestic travel for project related activities. An overhead

of 2% of the total cost of each research grant proposed is provided to the host institution to meet

administrative and other expenses.

Financial Assistance

The maximum amount of funding available under a typical research grant is Pak Rs 2.00 million. However,

in order to encourage and support highly productive research scientists, the funding limits are extended

further. For scientists with a cumulative impact factor (the sum of the Impact Factor indices of their

publications in journals rated in the Journal Citation Reports of the Institute for Scientific Information,

USA) of 5-9 the maximum funding limit of each project is increased to Pak Rs 4.00 million, and for

scientists with an impact factor of 10 and above the maximum funding limit is increased to Pak Rs 6.00

million to support high quality competitive research projects.

56

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The complete status of the National Research Grants Programme for Universities for the Financial Year

2004-05 is reflected below:

?

Number of Research Projects Received: 176

?

Number of Research Projects Approved: 74

?

Number of Research Projects Rejected: 21

?

Number of Research Projects under Process: 82

?

Approved Amount: 141.33 million

?

Released Amount: 85 million

The summary of university wise approved projects showing the number of approved projects, the total

approved amount and total approved 1st installment during financial year 2004-05 is placed below:

57

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

58

University wise Bar Chart of Approved Project during FY-2004-05

1 1 6 1 2 1 2 1 3 7 1 1 4 1 11 1 2 2 17 3 3 1 2

1,8

87

,49

5

2,5

12

,26

0

19

,77

9,7

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2,7

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1,7

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,58

0

9,1

79

,56

0

98

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3,9

86

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7,2

73

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0

73

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2,1

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0

8,3

57

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0

1,5

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0

20

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9,0

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66

6,0

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3,1

24

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0

3,2

95

,00

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3,1

79

,94

0

2,0

24

,36

0

2,2

84

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3,6

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0

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0

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15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

30,000,000

35,000,000

40,000,000

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2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

59

PAKISTAN ORGANIZATION OF COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH (POCR)

In order to enhance the quality and scope of research conducted in indigenous organizations, the HEC

has aimed to foster collaboration between researchers in Pakistan and leading foreign and expatriate

Pakistani researchers working in leading international universities.

The POCR aims to provide a one-window facility through which Pakistani researchers can identify

potential international counterparts through access to a comprehensive database listing the details of

leading international and expatriate scientists wishing to participate in the programme, along with details

of their organizations and research interests. The POCR provides seed funding for the initiation of

substantive collaborative research projects between researchers in Pakistan and their international

counterparts that may lead to the development of larger research projects.

S. No.

2004-05

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Procedure to Apply

There is no deadline for submission of applications in the POCR, applications are entertained as and when

they are received. Applications for the above mentioned three categories of the project are to be

submitted in English on the prescribed Application form through registered post or electronic mail to the

HEC at least three months before the commencement of the project.

Implementation

During the year the following were the targets and achievements of the Project:

TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR TECHNICAL/SCIENTIFIC STAFF AND RESEARCHERS

This Programme has been specifically designed for the training of scientific and technical staff and

researchers aims to provide funding for research and equipment based training to support research

activity in indigenous institutions, particularly in fields of economic relevance. Through this programme,

the scientific/technical staff, researchers and teachers of public sector universities may avail grants to

attend short-term local as well as foreign training programmes of their own choice, relevant to their field.

60

Targets 2004-05

Achievements 2004-05

Physical Financial (Research grants)

Financial (Administra-tive expenses)

Physical Financial (Research Grant)

Financial (Admin. expenses)

Remarks

10 ICRIG grants

Rs 5 million Rs 0.98 million

- 14 ICRIG - 4 POCR - 8 Under Process

- 3 Rejected /

transferred

Rs 4.75 million

Rs 32,400 + Advertisement cost

· Physical targets are well achieved.

· Financial targets for Research Grants will be achieved by the end of June 2005.

· Financial targets for administrative expenses have not so far being achieved due to late hiring of Project Manager.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The emoluments for trainings that can be provided to the applicants under this programme are as follows:

1. Training within the Country

a. Each selected trainee will receive travel allowance as per entitlement, daily allowance (DA) and

hotel charges as per government rules applicable (up to a maximum of Rs 1,500/- per day) for

the entire period of training

b. User charges up to Rs 50,000/- per trainee for consumables/glassware etc. and honoraria to

trainers to be paid directly to the training institution

2. Training Abroad

a. Each selected trainee will be given a maintenance allowance of US$ 1,200/- per month and an

economy-class return air ticket

b. User charges up to US$ 1,000/- per trainee for consumable/glassware etc. will be paid to the

training institution if required

The Programme aims to fund a total of 66 foreign and 90 domestic trainings within a time span of three

years (2004-2007). There is no deadline for submission of applications under this programme.

Technical/scientific staff and researchers in public sector universities may apply to the HEC for a foreign or

local training at any time, but preferable three months before commencement of training.

Launched at the end of February 2005, through advertisements in the leading daily nationals, the

programme drew a large number of applications from university staff and researchers, as well from

indigenous R&D organizations. A brief summary of applications received and processed between the

programme launch and June 2005 is as follows:

61

S. No.

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

The success of this programme can be demonstrated by the fact that within a relatively short span of three

months a total of 18 training cases at the cost of Pak Rs 3.40 million have been approved by the HEC.

SABBATICAL LEAVE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME

This Programme has been specifically developed to provide faculty members with an opportunity to pursue

their research activities on a full-time basis by allowing them to be relieved of their regular teaching

duties. By facilitating this process, the programme aims to enable participating faculty to upgrade their

professional status, allowing them to present themselves with renewed vigor, perspective and insight at

pedagogical and research forums.

Eligibility to apply for Sabbatical Leave Fellowships is restricted to permanent faculty members of public

sector universities and degree awarding institutions. PhD qualified professors/associate professors with 5

years of teaching experience are eligible to apply, where as the eligibility requirement for application of

non-PhD professors/associate professors stands at a minimum of 15 years of teaching experience. The

fellowship allows for the faculty members to perform their research or undertake other scholarly activities

at an institution other than their parent university. The maximum duration of the sabbatical that may be

availed under this programme is nine months.

The Programme aims to award a total number of 45 fellowships to Associate Professors and 35 to

Professors within the 4 year duration of the project. Selected candidates are provided with a monthly

maintenance allowance- for Professors of Rs 35,000/- and for Associate Professors of Rs 25,000/- per

month- as well as a boarding allowance of Rs 5,000/- per month, funds to cover domestic travel (Rs.

15,000/-) and a research supplement of Rs 75,000/- per scholar.

The Programme was launched in March 2005 by through advertisements in leading national newspapers.

During the period of performance in the current financial year, only one case has been received and

approved. Keeping in view this low response from faculty members of universities the HEC is in the

process of reviewing the programme. It is anticipated that following the review of the programme, a

greater amount of interest will be generated amongst university faculty members.

PRESIDENTIAL YOUNG INNOVATORS PROGRAMME

This Programme is designed to encourage and support the early career activities of outstanding young

faculty members in public sector institutions at the outset of their research careers. The Presidential Young

Innovator programme intends to recognize some of the finest scientists and engineers who, while early in

their research careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge

62

2004-05

REPORTANNUAL

during the twenty-first century. The programme aims to foster innovative and far-reaching developments

in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, enhance connections

between fundamental research and national goals, and highlight the importance of science and technology

for the nation's future.

With a capital cost of Pak Rs 37.80 million the Programme aims to award six grants, in two annual batches

(i.e. 3 awards per batch) to outstanding educational development proposals that demonstrate a particular

intellectual merit and broader societal benefits to the educational enterprise in Pakistan.

During the financial year 2004-2005, seven applications were received out of which project proposals of

five eligible scholars were evaluated. The evaluators have recommended four project proposals, with final

selection of three awardees to be confirmed by the Management Committee in its meeting scheduled on

th12 July 2005.

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SUPPORT INITIATIVE PROGRAMME (IRSIP)

This Programme aims to provide researchers conducting their PhDs in local universities to gain

international exposure by providing them with an opportunity to work in leading international laboratories.

These six-month research assignments will allow for Pakistani researchers to gain experience in the use of

leading technologies and scientific practices in their field of specialization, and to establish collaborative

research partnerships with other scholars at their host laboratories.

The original programme, with a capital cost of Pak Rs 39.40 million, aimed to facilitate the placement of a

total of 70 PhD scholars in two annual phases, i.e. 35 scholars per year, for six months training abroad in

leading international universities and research institutes. During the financial year 2004-2005, a

component of the award, the research support fee, was revised from Pak Rs 20,000/- to a maximum of

Pak Rs 200,000/- by the DDWP. Due to this revision, the number of awards available through the

programme has been reduced to 52, so as not to affect the total capital cost of the project.

During the period under report, a total of 17 awards have been granted through the IRSIP (two awards

were cancelled owing to incomplete documents). Three awardees have completed their research period of

six months and have returned from abroad, while a further student has departed to his international host

university as of June 2005. The remaining awardees are in process of departure as per the schedules

provided to them by their respective host universities.

The second phase of the scheme was launched during June 2005 and the applications received are in

process of short listing/scrutiny.

63

2004-05

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ACCESS TO SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATION

This project has adopted a novel approach to providing access to scientific instrumentation, by

encouraging sharing of sophisticated equipment amongst the scientific community, and to provide

incentives for participation by creating a source of funding to those institutions that make their instruments

available for rental facilities. The main purpose of this project is to provide spectroscopic, analytical,

chromatographic and other services to researchers working in different public sector universities on cost

plus basis, with the cost borne by the HEC. Since the launch of the project, 74 researchers from nine

different universities have benefited from free access to the instrumentation facilities offered by HEC.

For the year 2004-05, HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi was the leading

participating institute- facilitating 95% of the total activity generated by the project.

STRENGTHENING OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN THE LIFE SCIENCES

While great strides have been taken in the biological sciences particularly in the fields of genetics and

genetic engineering over the past few decades, many of the most significant threats to mankind including

diseases such as AIDS, SARS and anticipated pandemics of the Avian Influenza (H5N1 Virus) and

Tuberculosis can only be combated through increased research in the life sciences. As the present century

is being tipped as the century of biology with the completion of human genome project, it is the biologists

who can help to unravel the mysteries of etiology of many diseases, in the development of diagnostics and

therapeutics and production of life saving drugs and vaccines. Current knowledge of these biological

techniques is quite limited, yet they are a key to improved healthcare, enhanced food supply and

protection of the environment. Biology is taught in almost all institutes of higher learning of Pakistan but

the quality of teaching as well as research in these institutions is far below the international standards. For

the remediation of existing scenario, the Ministry of Science & Technology initiated a project to bring about

improvement, and consequently a National Core Group in Life Sciences (NCGLS) was constituted on

January 17, 2002 under Convener ship of Dr. Anwar Nasim, Adviser (Science) COMSTECH, Islamabad.

A Secretariat for NCGLS has been established at HEC for the implementation of the aims and objectives of

the core group. Total Project Cost of the project is Pak Rs 32.722 million out of which expenditure incurred

during the financial year 2004-2005 was Pak Rs 8.64 million.

Programmemes and Achievements of the NCGLS during 2004-2005:

i. Teacher training

About 24 workshops/meetings for teachers training have been conducted and 934 teachers have

been trained for different biological techniques at country level.

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ii. Curriculum Development

Different experts have been invited to write text-books on life sciences in modern areas. Topics of

four books have been approved.

iii. Researcher Industry Liaison

Marketing of the economically important products is in process.

iv. Distance Learning

Two life sciences resource centres at University of the Punjab, Lahore and Arid Agriculture

University, Rawalpindi have been established.

v. Grant for short-term training abroad

University teachers are being awarded during the year.

A Life Sciences Directory, containing the complete contact information of all life scientists in Pakistan has

been published and dispatched amongst the research community.

The Core Group is primarily focusing on Botany, Zoology, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Microbiology,

Genetics and an emerging interdisciplinary research area of Bio-informatics, which may be defined as the

interface between biological and computational sciences. In these disciplines of life sciences the following

workshops/meetings have been conducted throughout the country.

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MONOGRAPH AND TEXTBOOK WRITING SCHEME

The Scheme aims to develop a strong authorship cadre among the teaching community, making available

the low-cost curriculum based books to students, researchers, and teachers and to remove the reluctance

of the community towards writing. The project was approved by DDWP in July 2003 with the cost of Pak

Rs 35.30 million.

The reporting year of 2004-05 unveiled some positive developments regarding its implementation. The

hiring of project staff was made in this period. Nearly 60 proposals were received on diverse subjects and

fields. Besides this, some result-oriented tasks were taken to uplift the project's portfolio that included

work planning on a quarterly basis, internal portal reporting and a multiple communication strategy.

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The progress of the Scheme is measured (FY-2004-05) in two different aspects as follow:

1. Quantitative Description of book proposals:

Publication Cost (Payments to 2 authors and 40 evaluators) = Rs 0.556 million

Printing Cost (Publication of 4 Monographs at the Postgraduate level) = Rs 0.179 million

2. Qualitative Description of book proposals being operating at different stages:

a) Book proposals under Review Process Stage = 27

(These book proposals are under the Review Process Stage that involves vetting and synopsis

evaluation. They will be matured for printing at the end of next FY-2005-06).

Textbooks at the Postgraduate level = 12

Monographs at the Postgraduate level = 11

Monographs at the graduate level = 4

b) Book proposals in Manuscript Writing Stage = 14

(The authors were provided approval in the FY-2004-05 after the synopsis evaluation for writing

manuscripts on their respective topics of monographs/textbooks in the allotted time period of 4-6

months. These book proposals will be matured for printing in the next year).


Monographs at the Postgraduate level = 6


c) Book proposals in Manuscript Evaluation Stage = 8

(These book proposals are under the second stage of evaluation and will be matured for printing

in the FY-2005-06).



d) Books proposals Printed = 4 (all at Postgraduate level)

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SUPPORT TO SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITIES

The HEC partially supports and encourages publication of good quality and internationally comparable

local research journals by public sector universities. The HEC has created an endowment for this purpose

and out of the benefit accrued, approximately 30-40 journals are sponsored every year by providing a

partial grant of Pak Rs 20,000/- to Pak Rs 25,000/- each.

An amount of Pak Rs 800,000/- was released to various Universities/Degree Awarding Institutions during

the financial year 2004-2005 towards journal support.

ICT TO SUPPORT RESEARCH

The numerous efforts of the reform process to revitalize institutions into world-class seats of learning and

research have injected an influx of scholars into institutions through various programmes. In order to

support this increased research activity, a complementary enhancement of the physical and technological

infrastructure has also been implemented.

The development of the physical infrastructure of universities has been one of the crucial steps

undertaken to meet the development demands for an ever-increasing population and educational

demographic. A framework has been clearly defined, in which financial resources have been dedicated

towards strengthening the existing infrastructure to ensure the success of implementation strategies.

In concert with the expansion of physical infrastructure, the HEC has endeavoured to exploit the

opportunities offered by recent developments in Information and Communication Technologies to enhance

the educational and research experience in universities in Pakistan. The critical platform for the delivery

of educational resources is the Pakistan Education and Research Network, a fibre-based network

providing universities with both intranet, and high-speed internet capabilities.

The key service provided on this infrastructure platform is the National Digital Library, providing access to

scientific and technological content, critical to support the needs of the indigenous education and

research sector. Developed from an initial concept to provide access to international scientific publications

for universities in Pakistan, the programme has surpassed initial expectations, and with many expansions

and developments soon to take place, will provide a globally unparalleled service. The programme

continues to draw attention from scientific agencies across the globe, and it is anticipated that through

new collaborative partnerships, and the systematic training of users within higher education institutions,

the vast potential of the programme in enhancing research and scientific capacity will be manifest.

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THE NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PROGRAMME

Since its launch in January 2004, the Digital Library Programme of the Higher Education Commission,

designed to meet the information requirements of the research sector in the universities of Pakistan, has

gone from strength to strength, and has received International recognition as a globally unparalleled

service.

The activities of the programme in the financial year 2004-2005, focused on three broad areas: content

enhancement, training and promotion, and supporting ease of usage. Each of these represent areas

where significant progress has been made, with a focus on delivering quality services using innovative

means and revolutionary technologies to support end-users in institutions across Pakistan.

Content Enhancement

The content acquisition strategy of the Digital Library Programme has focused on meeting the specific

information requirements of higher education institutions in Pakistan, identified through a survey

conducted in early 2004. The resources available through the Digital Library now provide full-text access

to over 20,000 scholarly publications, including the world's leading publishers with access tailored to the

individual research requirements of Pakistani universities.

The resources available through the PERI Programme of INASP (International Network for the Availability

of Scientific Publications), eligibility for which is open to all non-profit indigenous educational and R&D

organizations, which previously provided access to leading resources from Blackwell Publishing, Mary Ann

Liebert, Bentham Science, the Royal Society of Chemistry, Oxford University Press and the vast resources

of the EBSCO Aggregation Service, has now been expanded to include access to all journals formerly

published by Kluwer Academic Publishing, and those from Palgrave Macmillan and INFORMS. Access to all

resources is set up through IP verification, to allow seamless access in participating institutions (i.e. no

user-names and passwords are required).

Through the largest programme funded via the Pak-US Joint Cooperation in Science and Technology

Agreement in 2004, the HEC entered into a partnership with the US National Academy of Sciences to

negotiate access to content from American Scientific Societies for universities in Pakistan. This highly

successful collaboration allowed for discounted licenses to be negotiated on behalf of public sector

universities, with access launched in January 2004 according to the teaching and research requirements

of the beneficiary institutions. Users in these institutions now have access to the journals of the American

Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, the American Institute for Physics, the American

Association of Physics Teachers, the American Society for Microbiology, the American Society for Civil

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Engineering, the American Society for Mechanical Engineering, the American Society for Agricultural

Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

and the American Mathematical Society.

The success of the negotiations and level of discounts achieved through the collaborative programme with

the NAS (National Academy of Sciences) has resulted in licenses that will be financially sustainable if

external funding is not provided for future years of the programme. Furthermore, the underutilization of

the grant through this partnership has allowed for the HEC to extend its 'shopping list' of resources, with

access soon to be launched to Science Online of the AAAS, Annual Reviews (the most highly rated set of

journals in the world- ISI JCR 2003) and the publications of the Nature Publishing Group.

The expansion strategy of the Digital Library Programme has also included direct negotiations between

leading commercial publishers, and has been an area where the HEC has made tremendous strides. Of

particular note is the launch of access to the journals available through Science Direct of Elsevier

Publishing, the world's largest collection of science, technology and medical research information. Tailored

access has been provided to a consortium of 30 carefully selected public sector universities to Science

Direct, with specific subject collections made accessible at participant institutes according to their

identified requirements. These universities are to further been provided with Scopus, a leading

bibliographic and reference database.

Through the Digital Library Programme the Web of Knowledge from the Institute of Scientific Information

(ISI) has been deployed at leading institutions across the Pakistan, providing users with seamless access

to the world's most important scholarly research information, including peer reviewed journal content,

patent and chemical information, proceedings, and journal impact factors. Access to the JSTOR scholarly

archive of research journals is to be launched in July 2005 at institutions that have successfully completed

network performance tests.

A recent survey by an independent international publisher (Elsevier 2005) acknowledges the scope of the

programme, which now covers over 75% of the world's peer-reviewed research journals, and offers a

globally unparalleled service.

Promotion and Training

In order to maximize the impact of the digital library programme on the indigenous research sector it is

vital that effective measures be taken to ensure the promotion, usage and effective utilization of

subscribed resources. Having trained a large set of institutional librarians as Master Trainers to lead the

training of end-users in the leading institutions of Pakistan in March 2004, a team of Master Trainers was

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appointed by the Higher Education Commission in December 2004 to manage the activities of the

programme, to disseminate the knowledge and use of online resources and to manage programme

implementation in various regions of the country.

The most significant achievement to date has been the development of the new programme website

( )www.digitallibrary.edu.pk , designed to disseminate essential information on the programme, and

provide a central point of reference for all end-users in institutions. The website offers a user-friendly

interface and covers detailed content information for digital library users, general users, librarians,

researchers and students. Information on subscribed databases is provided with details on databases

strengths and functionalities, as well as links to resources such as journal listings. The website contains

individual pages for each participating university, with contact details of the institutional representatives,

and listings of the databases available at their institution. These pages are designed to serve a dual

purpose of disseminating information, and also to serve as access portals for university students to each

individual database through active linking. The website contains further information pages with links to

key Open Access Resources, Scientific Search Engines and Free Medical Resources. The content of the

website will continue to evolve, with the aim to provide an unequaled information resource.

A vast range of promotional materials have been produced by the Digital Library Team, that include

posters, information booklets and bookmarks, to create awareness on the services delivered through the

programme. Promotional materials have been systematically distributed throughout universities in

Pakistan, with specialist database information packs provided to specific institutions.

In the first 8 weeks of their appointment, the Master Trainers underwent a series of intensive training

sessions to equip them with the requisite skills to train a diverse set of end users on a wide range of

databases. This included workshops facilitated by the International Network for the Availability of

Scientific Publications, the Institute of Scientific Information and Thomson Scientific, and Elsevier

Publishing. Following the conduct of these workshops the Digital Library staff has developed a

comprehensive training plan for the dissemination of programme information to key user and subject

groups to promote 'effective' usage at participating institutions.

The implementation of the training programme is currently underway, whereby two types of training

strategies are being conducted simultaneously. The first set of trainings focus on building awareness

throughout all the participating academic institutions for the resources available to them through the

Digital Library Programme. The intent is to cover all the public sector universities region by region,

allowing for a one to one interaction between the providers and users of the Digital Library Programme

resources. These set of trainings have been instrumental in not only promoting the programme and

building basic searching skills, but have also helped in practically assessing the infrastructure available to

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Universities for accessing these resources.

Trainings with the above mentioned agenda have been conducted for universities in the Islamabad /

Rawalpindi region (May 2005) under the title of the event 'Introduction to Digital Library Resources and

their Effective Usage'. These workshops, conducted at nine public and private sector universities were

attended by faculty members, librarians, network specialists, graduate and postgraduate-level students.

Similar trainings are scheduled to be conducted in the Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP and AJK regions

over the coming months. These workshops have displayed a positive impact on the usage of resources.

Previously, participants were uncertain of where to find information regarding resources that were

available to them through their respective Institutions. The promotional material supplied and

demonstration of the Digital Library website helped in clarifying where the information was to be sought

and demonstrations clarified how resources were to be put to optimal use.

The second set of trainings concentrate on targeting a more focused group of users with a particular

subject focus. These focused workshops have been designed and delivered to enhance research capacity

in specific fields such as Biology, Chemistry, Engineering and Physics & Applied Mathematics, by training

the individuals who have the most pressing research needs- the PhD supervisors. These supervisors are

then expected to effectively disseminate the information gained at these workshops to PhD students

under their supervision, who by applying the knowledge gained through digital library resources in their

own research, will promote the most effective usage.

A week-long workshop on Online Resources in Chemical Sciences was held at HEJ Karachi, in April 2005

for this very purpose. Further more, workshops were delivered specifically for approved HEC PhD

supervisors in the region of Punjab in May/June 2005, at the University of the Punjab in the Chemical

Sciences, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics. More of such workshops have been

planned in the forthcoming months for the rest of the regions in Pakistan.

In addition to workshops held in universities, a number of in-house training programmes have been

conducted for faculty members involved in the three-month faculty development programme at the

Higher Education Commission.

Networking

A fourth training workshop was held in India in the month of June, whereby three members of the staff

visited Elsevier Publishing. This was the second phase of the training held previously by Elsevier and

covered detailed resource knowledge and usage. Scopus was introduced and its functionalities explained

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in great detail. The visit also provided the team members with an opportunity to visit the Higher

Education Commission and explore the measures that are being taken by our counterpart to further the

field of education and enhancement of research capacity.

A fifth training workshop was held shortly after in the same month by Sarah Durrant of INASP between

20-22 June 2005 on “E-Resource Licensing and Negotiation Skills for Libraries and Consortia”. This was a

highly important workshop which provided the Team with essential negotiation knowledge and developed

their skills to facilitate their correspondence with foreign publishers.

A current priority initiative of the HEC has been to introduce a one-window search interface the ELIN

system developed by Lund University, Sweden. ELIN facilitates end user access to electronic information

resources and offers library staff easy administration tools to manage this electronic content. Via

arrangements with many publishers and other information providers, ELIN compiles metadata from

millions of information resources so that they can be searched through a single user interface with cross

searching and merged search results. The resources available can be tailored to fit the licenses and

access rights of the individual institution providing the access.

For the planning of a strategy for ELIN implementation in Pakistan, a week-long workshop was held at

Lund, Sweden, which was attended by the Project Coordinator at the HEC, Kamran Naim, and Raja Abdul

Razak, a Systems Specialist. The National University of Rwanda and Makerere University in Uganda were

also represented in the workshop as the ELIN@ pilot project is being implemented in a range of different

environments, the largest of these being the Pakistan pilot project. The pilot project will be launched later

on this year in September to three main universities in Pakistan.

Future Directions

The Higher Education Commission has been actively engaged in devising a strategy to increase the

visibility of research work published in Pakistan, to promote quality work, and also to address the issues

of duplication and plagiarism.

The national level repository will serve as a mechanism for long-term preservation and archiving of PhD

theses published in Pakistani Universities, guided by the intent that all material is public information. It

will take shape as a digital archive of research output created by the faculty, research staff, and students

of all the universities of Pakistan, and will be made accessible over the internet to end-users with no

barriers to access. The repository will provide a search mechanism to browse the theses collected from

universities in a systematic manner; i.e., by subject, source institution and will allow public viewing of any

document through the hosting of PDF full text.

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The setting up of this Digital Repository will address all the issues and bring in significant benefits to

educational and research institutions by serving the dual purpose of digital archiving of research being

produced in Pakistan and also of facilitating exposure of research information published in Pakistan to the

rest of the world. By making the repository open-access, all articles, PhD thesis will be available freely and

will be subject to review and scrutiny by the national and international academic community.

SPECIAL PROJECT ON SOCIAL SCIENCES

In recognition of the need to enhance indigenous capacities in the Social Sciences, the Higher Education

Commission held a national Social Science Conference in December 2003, the first such conference to be

held in 20 years. At this conference, the Honourable Assistant Secretary General, UNESCO Dr. Pierre Sane

who was chief Guest at the concluding ceremony said 'this Conference is a turning point in the history of

Social Sciences in Pakistan… that there should be more such frequent networking for intellectual

discourse which will help in effecting transformation of social sciences that at the present state are in a

dismal state of affairs'.

Since then the HEC has launched a number of social sciences scholarships, indigenous as well as foreign,

for the development of quality manpower for the sector. Paying special attention to social sciences, it has

worked towards the establishment of a Social Science Council and strengthening of social science

departments in various respects as well as establishing opportunities for local scientists and researchers

to work abroad in the area on reciprocal basis.

Establishment of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Pakistan

The Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has been established to create a permanent

forum to look into affairs of Social Sciences & Humanities sector for a constant and timely development.

The establishment of the Council, first of its kind in the government sector will certainly promote

academic development and research in Social Sciences and Humanities sector.

A reference Library for the researchers and a Secretariat of Social Sciences & Humanities Research

Council is being established in the 'Extension Building' of the HEC. The Secretariat includes a conference

room and a database centre for the researchers. Additionally, to facilitate research SSHRC is developing a

networking database of social scientists from all over Pakistan. This database will help potential scholars

to have access to information about existing supervisors and researchers in the field of SS&H. The SSHRC

is also providing funding for research and development in all fields of Social Sciences and Humanities.

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In addition to the above, funding is also available through SSHRC for the following:

National and International Linkage Programme

Under the Linkage programme, financing for short-term national and international visits is available to the

faculty members and researchers. This programme is helping in establishing linkages between different

universities within the country and internationally so that there is an exchange of knowledge and ideas in

the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities. The SSHRC has so far selected nine scholars for National

Linkage and 14 scholars for the International Linkage programme in Phase I and 8 scholars for the

International Linkage in Phase II. The total amount spent so far is Rs 1,827,000.

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Research Grant Programme

The Research Grant Programme is exclusively designed to encourage and promote research culture in all

disciplines of Social Sciences and Humanities domain, preferably on topics of contemporary issues or

those having directed impact or relevance to the socio-economic development of the country. The total

grants allocated under this programme amount to Pak Rs 300,000/-.

Seminars, Conferences and Workshops

For organization of Seminars and conferences all over the country on a regular basis on issues addressing

current and future societal needs, a substantial amount is allocated in the project. There is also a

provision of grant in annual recurring budget for the support of additional conferences. Amount spent so

far is Rs 518,700. SSHRC has so far funded four conferences

“Social sciences: Endangered and Engendered” held at Fatima Jinnah Women University,

Rawalpindi, October 2004.

“Ethics, Values and Society: Social transformation”, held at the Lahore University of Management

Sciences, April 2005.

Multiculturalism & Human Security, Karachi University, Karachi to be held in 2005.

Social Sciences & Social Action at International Islamic University, Islamabad to be held in 2005.

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Development/ Strengthening of Selected Departments of Social Sciences and Humanities in

General Universities in Pakistan

The project aims for the development of institutions through strengthening and improvement of the

existing facilities in the Departments, Centres of Excellence and Area Study Centres of Social Sciences and

Humanities in selected public sector universities of Pakistan. It is believed that this programme will

provide the basis for improvement and development of higher education and research in Social Sciences

and will be the first step to produce intellectually strong, highly skilled and well-qualified new social

scientists. The Programme will also emphasize in eradicating the constraints being faced due to some

inadequate facilities in selected institutions of higher learning. The project was launched in October 2003

and consists of two portions described below:

Institutional Development: Thirteen departments of 10 public sector universities were selected for

development under this project. By the end of the current year, an amount of Rs 1.288 million was

released to each of the selected departments for construction work, procurement of equipments,

networking, seminars and conferences along with the research grant and the utilization was sought in the

months of September 2004, February and May 2005 according to the financial releases.

Faculty Development: According to the project, a total of 40 faculty members were required to be

selected for PhD scholarship from the 13 selected departments. Two GRE tests were conducted in May

2004 and Dec 2004, in which 23 scholars appeared in the examination, out of which 10 were selected.

These scholars are doing research and are at various stages of their PhD programme.

Pak-French Research Collaboration in Social Sciences & Humanities Sector

The idea behind this reciprocal programme was to provide opportunities for enhanced international

exposure to our researchers. It was believed that these researchers at practically any stage of their

careers will acquire expertise from the experience of researching in a new country and discipline and will

apply this knowledge in their home country, and promote social and economic transformation.

Furthermore, these specialists will be readily available to be drawn upon for any challenging development

project requiring the application of Social Sciences disciplines and will contribute to accelerate the growth

of the economy in Pakistan.

The project of Pak-French Research Collaboration was handed over to the Department of Social Sciences

& Humanities on May 4, 2004. The scheme was initially announced on January 24, 2004. By the end of

the year 2004, the names of four scholars were finalized and sent to France for research purpose. In

addition to the above, six French scholars were also short-listed by French Selection Committee under

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Phase 1. After a thorough review by Pakistani Section Committee, five scholars were finalized and were

invited to Pakistan for research purposes in the fields of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities.

By the end of 2004, the scheme was announced again to get the target audience for the year 2005. The

Last offer was made in December, 2004, through which a total of 19 applicants applied under Phase 2.

Out of these 19 applicants, five applicants were short-listed. The process of funding these applicants

under Phase 2 is in progress.

In addition to the above, eight French scholars were also short-listed by French Selection Committee

under Phase 2. After reviewing the applications by Pakistani Section Committee, four top French scholars

were finalized and were invited to Pakistan, of which two have begun their research in their proposed

fields in institutions in Pakistan. The remaining two scholars will reach Pakistan in the months of August

and September.

Enrollment Profile

After the formal launch of the programme in January 2004, the scheme was announced one more time to

get the target audience. A total of 56 researchers applied under Phase 1 and 19 applied under Phase 2.

Progressive enrollments in the project are depicted below:

79

56

4

19

3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

To

tal

Ap

pli

can

ts

Phase 1 Phase 2

Selections

Total Vs Selected Pakistani Applicants

Total Pakistani

Applicants

Phase 1 Phase 2

Total French

Applicants

Phase 1 Phase 2

14

6

4

8

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

To

tal

Ap

pli

can

ts

Phase 1 Phase 2

Selections

Total Vs Selected French Applicants

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Proposed Research Area-wise Distribution of Pakistani Researchers in Phase 1 & Phase 2

A total of 75 researchers applied in both phases, out of which nine researchers were selected, four

researchers under Phase 1 and five researchers under Phase 2. The researchers from Phase 1 have

completed their research and research under Phase 2 is in progress. Their distribution profile is depicted

below:

Proposed Research Area-wise Distribution of French Researchers in Phase 1 & Phase 2

A total of 14 researchers applied in both phases, out of them nine researchers were selected, five

researchers under Phase 1 and four researchers under Phase 2. The researchers from Phase 1 have

completed their research and research under Phase 2 is in progress. Their distribution profile is depicted

here.

Utilization Profile (From Jan-2004 to June-2005)

The project was put into operation in January 2004. Provided below is a brief summary of total cost

pattern of release and outlays incurred.

80

Total Selected

French Applicants in

Phase1 & Phase 2

9

Total Selected

Pakistani Applicants

in Phase1 & Phase 2

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INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION

Pak-US Faculty Development Programme

The respective Governments of Pakistan and the United States of America signed a comprehensive Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement in 2003 that established a framework to increase cooperation in science, technology, engineering and education for mutual benefit and peaceful purposes between public and private science and education communities in both countries. Each country contributed funds to support Cooperative Programme projects under this agreement that would expand linkages between each countries scientific community, shared goals of enhancing human and infrastructure capacity in Pakistan and promote research for common good. Under this agreement the HEC has the following projects which are funded through the Pak-US Faculty Development Programme.

� Pak-US Partial PhD Support Programme

� Optimization of Large- Scale Production of Value-Added Medicinal Plant Extract

� Osteoblast Growth Research

� Linkage of Centres for Chemical Sciences

� Measurement Analysis for the Global Grid and Internet End-to-End Performance Globe Collaboration and Master Training

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Programme

The matter of submission of proposals to SAARC Secretariat, implementation of the decision taken in different SAARC meetings are being looked after by the academic Division. During the year 44 cases were dealt with.

Pacts/Protocols and Linkages

Pakistan has signed Pacts and Protocol agreements, Memoranda of Understanding etc. with different countries of the world. In addition to this, Pakistan has established various linkages between Pakistani and foreign universities/research institutes in order to promote higher education in the country. The HEC furnishes proposals relating to higher education on such occasions when leading political dignitaries e.g. Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Ministers, as well as other Government functionaries pay visits to foreign countries or any foreign delegation(s) visit Pakistan. The HEC also provides fresh proposals, talking points and prepares briefs etc. to facilitate discussions on potential collaboration in Higher Education. The HEC is the main implementation agency of all Pacts and Protocol relevant to Higher Education.

During the period under review, a total number of 192 cases under Pacts & Protocol were dealt with.

The HEC Signed Memoranda of Understanding with the following countries/agencies in 2004-2005:

1. Germany Deutscher Akademisher Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service) 2. France Société française d'exportation des ressources éducatives (French Society for Export of Educational

Resources)3. Netherlands NUFFIC, Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education4. Sweden The Swedish Institute5. Thailand The Asian Institute of Technology6. China The China Scholarship Council

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The HEC-British Council Joint Higher Education Links Programme

To bring about critical changes and to improve the quality of output and efficiency of the higher education learning system international linkage with foreign educational and research institutions is vital. The 'HEC-BC Joint Higher Education Links Programme' is a partnership agreed between the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the British Council Pakistan.

The purpose of the programme is to establish research linkages between departments in public and private sector universities in Pakistan with those in the UK. The aim is to fund collaborative programmes between departments in both countries to enhance the research and training capacity of the participant departments to impact human resource development and also to give university faculty exposure of research practices in leading British research centres.

The 'HEC-BC Joint Higher Education Links Programme' provides funding to support collaborative research proposals between British and Pakistani university departments for a period of three years each. These collaborative arrangements focus on the development of faculty and students by administering quality courses, fostering an environment of critical enquiry, problem solving, effective communication and industry-oriented research.The Objectives of the Project are:

� Development of the research and training capacity of higher education institutions in Pakistan� Improvement of the teaching methodology� Improvement in management system within department of the educational institutions� Development/improvement in course curriculum� Faculty development

Each linkage programme is supported for three years, provided there consistent progress and achievement of goals outlined in their proposals. A total of 15 links were established in July 2004, which will complete their full term in 2007. The programme provides funding of GBP 31,000 to each link to support the collaborative programmes between departments of universities in pakistan and the UK for a period of three years.

Following is the list of the first 15 links established through HEC-BC Joint Higher Education Links Programme:

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Foreign Delegations

The HEC provides coordination to foreign delegations visiting Pakistan from different countries. This

section carries out different arrangements for the visit of foreign delegations to Pakistan. It also provides

coordination between foreign delegations and Pakistani universities and other different organizations,

centres and seats of Higher learning. Similarly, it also prepares briefs/proposals for Pakistani delegations

visiting foreign countries. During the year (2004-05), 15 cases were dealt with. The delegations who

visited Pakistan during the year were from Sweden, Bangladesh, China and Kuwait and an amount of

Rs. 880,910/- has been spent on their visit programmes. An MOU between Pakistan and Kuwait was also

signed during the visit of Kuwaiti delegation.

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Pakistani Students Meet Nobel Laureates in Lindau (Germany)

A highly inspirational programme to promote high-quality human resource development in Pakistan is a

joint venture of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) with

the support of the Committee for the Meetings of Nobel Laureates in Lindau.

This programme relates to the participation of graduate students/young researchers of Pakistan in the

meetings of Nobel Prize Winners with young scholars. Such meetings are regarded as highly prestigious

events, regularly held for more than half a century.

Each year a subject is chosen from amongst physics, chemistry and medicine/physiology. This year the

subject was Physics. Eight physics graduates were selected, strictly on merit, from various

universities/research organizations. They participated in the 54th meeting in June -July, 2004.

More than 500 students are invited from all over the world to interact with 15-25 Nobel Laureates in the

related field of study. This interaction is in the form of lectures, informal discussions, round table

conferences, personal links, etc. The main purpose of these meetings is to motivate and inspire the young

blood to adopt careers in science. The by-product is the placement of students for higher studies in

renowned institutions of developed countries where they gain experience under the supervision of highly

skilled professionals. Moreover the students from different parts of the world discuss their common

scientific goals and find ways and means to achieve these goals with mutual cooperation.

Prior to their departure for Germany, a three-day orientation camp was arranged, in which experienced

professors and renowned scientists like Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, Special Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan on

Strategic Affairs, Mr. Parvez Butt, Chairman PAEC, Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, Chairman NESCOM, Prof. Dr.

Sohail H. Naqvi, Executive Director HEC, Dr. Hameed A. Khan, Executive Director COMSATS and

Prof. Riaz-ud-Din, Director NCP addressed the selected students. The main theme was how to reap

maximum benefit from this useful activity and how to enhance the image of the country abroad.

The group reached Lindau in June 2004 where the opening ceremony was held in which the Chancellor of

the Federal Republic of Germany was the Chief Guest. He appreciated the cause of the Meeting and

ensured all possible help and support to continue such meetings in future. The technical session began

with a panel discussion amongst the Laureates. The discussion was about the basic and applied research.

It was followed by series of 30 minute lectures by the Nobel Laureates. Some of the interesting lectures

were “Columbia Shuttle Accident” by Prof. Douglas Osheroff, “Lasers in Peace and War” by Prof. Nicolaas

Bloembergen, “Man-made Semi-Conductors” by Prof. Leo Easki, “X-ray Astronomy” by Prof. Riccordo

Giacconi, “Nano-electronics” by Prof. Klaus Von Klitzing and “Neutrino Astrophysics” by Prof. M. Koshiba.

Pakistani students made a very good impression in personal discussions as well as in question/answer

sessions. The students took full advantage of this one hour with them and discussed matters of interest.

During the whole programme students showed their eagerness to work in high tech-laboratories under

the able guidance of experienced scientists. The possibility of getting funds for research was also

discussed. It is hoped that two or three members of the group could be able to find placement for there

higher studies in Darmstadt and Julich which was one of the purposes of such visits.

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RELEVANCE TO THE ECONOMY UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY LINKAGES

RELEVANCE TO THE ECONOMY UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY LINKAGES

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INTRODUCTION

In the contemporary global knowledge-economy, innovation capability comes to determine opportunities

for continued growth and for the creation of quality employment. In order to ensure that Pakistan is able

to exploit the economic benefits of knowledge-intensive industries, the HEC is gearing programmes to

accelerate the creation of knowledge and to help diffuse knowledge as widely as possible throughout the

economy and society. In this context, the elaboration of appropriate frameworks for shaping university-

industry linkages is among the most pressing tasks facing the government in the pursuit of a “high road”

toward economic and social development.

We are focusing efforts to facilitate connections between university-based research and training and the

emergence of knowledge intensive “clusters” of economic activity in key geographical areas, relevant to

the natural resources and expertise available in each area. Pakistan's future depends crucially on its

insertion into high value-added manufacturing sectors (traditional as well as high tech), creative

industries, and knowledge intensive business services, and these sorts of economic activities develop

most rapidly when concentrated in geographic proximity to one another. Such industries are skills and

research-intensive, and their dynamism depends upon the availability of a significant pool of well-trained

workers and technical and managerial personnel who combine specialized knowledge and creative

problem-solving capabilities. Each of these attributes can be promoted through enterprise linkages to

research-oriented universitiespublic or privatewhich constitute the life blood of innovative industrial

clusters.

In order to facilitate the development of a world-class higher education sector that conducts research

relevant to the economic needs of Pakistan, our universities must continually renew the pool of skills in

the communities where they are located by attracting students and scholars from across the nation. Our

objective is for these universities to serve as nodes linked to other major centres of learning across the

world contributing to the sparking and diffusion of ideas as well as the circulation of creative talent. More

directly, these universities will be crucibles where people who will in the future run businesses and

conduct research, to establish contacts that can spawn industrial networks.

Industrial Linkages

Promoting linkages between industry and academia is imperative to develop an effective innovation

system, and transfer traditional economies into ones characterized by the generation, assimilation and

application of new knowledge. This cooperation will allow the means for addressing new technical

challenges, finding innovative solutions, and improving the skill-base of the workforce.

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The objectives of the HEC in developing university-industry partnerships are:-

To allow students and researchers to conduct research and gain experience with production

processes in an industrial setting.

Industrial engineers and professionals to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to

academia.

Interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct long-term projects.

University-based support for partnering university and industry scientists and /or engineers on a

research project of mutual interest, including joint graduate student advising.

University-Industry Technology Support Programme (UITSP)

Keeping in view the ever-increasing importance of collaboration between academia and industry, the HEC

has initiated the University-Industry Technology Support Programme, an important step towards fostering

enhanced cooperation between academia and industry. This cooperation will address emerging

international demands for products and processes in discrete and continuous manufacturing, and will

contribute to national economic development. This programme is focused on industrial sectors where the

country is already a major contributor to world trade, to sectors where there is high potential for

international trade with a high-level of competition, and sectors which require development both for local

and international consumption. The focused sector-wise identification of products and processes and their

import and export trends are available from public domain local and international statistical data.

The University-Industry Technology Support Programme (UITSP) proposes that researchers preferably

holding a PhD degree and affiliation with international professional bodies collaborate with local industry

involved in discrete and continuous manufacturing for tangible results in terms of improvement of

products and processes leading to decreased import of raw material and increased export of the finished

product and processes. The products and processes requiring improvement should ideally be in priority

areas relevant to national needs for socio-economic development of the country.

Grants under the University-Industry Technology Support Programme (UITSP) are awarded on competitive

merit by HEC for high-level and promising industrial research projects of direct relevance to current needs

of the industry, to be carried out in Pakistan by creative scientists of public sector universities and degree

awarding institutions in collaboration with professional from local industry. The purpose of these grants is

to promote scientific research in applied sciences in the country and to strengthen the indigenous

capacity for industrial competition in the world market. Under the programme research grants are

provided for a maximum period of two years with a budget of upto Rs 6.0 million in which HEC will

contribute 80% of the total budget and industry will provide remaining 20% of the total budget.

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Details of Industry-based research projects under the UITSP

At present there are seven projects approved for funding under the University-Industry Technology

Support Programme. The details of the approved projects are provided as follows:

Design and Prototyping of an electronically controlled CVT (Continuous Variable Transmission)

Development of Light-Weight 4-stroke slim car/rickshaw (Prototype) utilizing composite materials

Development of Baby/School Children Food of High Nutrient Density and Diabetic Meals with

Improved Edible Protein Film Packaging

Design and Development of Super Energy Saving Lights for Urban, Rural & Industrial Applications

using Super Bright LEDs

Solar Hybrid Water-Heating System for industrial Applications

Re-Evaluation and Standardization of Selected Herbal Products for Export

Indigenous Development of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Car Kit

Strengthening of Universities and Institutions for Industrial Support

The basic objective of the programme for Strengthening of Universities and Institutions of Higher

Learning in New and Emerging Technologies focuses on a two fold objective. The first highlights the

emergence of technology from basic research to implementation, while the second centres on

commercializing of technology by leading markets. These represent stages where uncertainties and risks

are greatest and traditional business practices are most likely to fail. Hence, the adaptation and

implementation of innovative and advanced practices have become indispensable for survival in the long

run.

When a technology moves from basic research to the implementation and testing phase, there are often

many competing modalities. For example, one may see this in telecommunications, where new digital

content may be delivered via high-speed phone technology, fibre optic cable and wireless satellite

communications, and the dominant technologies are yet to be determined.

The second major transition point is where technologies move from the testing and implementation phase

into commercialization. The point at which a technology moves from implementation to commercialization

often involves a number of competing applications.

Emerging technologies introduce a wide variety of risks for established firms as well as new pioneers.

There is a sudden unprecedented risk, where by the firms are faced by a completely new challenge; a

new playing field where the different ground rules don't fit the culture and existing business approaches

of established firms. The horizon becomes clouded with new-found uncertainties as Competitor firms

introduce latest technology based solutions. The result is that traditional business approaches that in the

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past offered viable technological application, become outdated, ineffective and obsolete. Decision makers

at all levels are faced with challenges as well as opportunities.

The Higher Education Commission understands the importance of adapting these emerging technologies

to upgrade its practices and has provided funding for three sub projects to meet these challenges as

opportunities:

Establishment of National Centre of Nanotechnology at Pakistan Institute of Engineering &

Applied Sciences(PIEAS)

Establishment of Bio-Organic Chemistry Laboratory in the School of Biological Sciences at

University of the Punjab

Establishment of Research and Development facility for exotic cut flowers and value added

products at International Centre for Chemical Sciences, University of Karachi

The goals of the project are to:

1. Provide research-based insight and guidance to firms competing in emerging technologies

2. Identify (and where necessary, develop) new best practices and competitive strategies, to replace

traditional practices that no longer apply to emerging technology-based industries

3. Report the results to corporate and academic communities

4. Include the results in classroom curricula, to be shared with faculty and students in

undergraduate, graduate and executive management education.

The project was approved in December 2004 at the cost of Pak Rs 153.447 million.

Country Licenses of Advanced Design Software's for Teaching and Training in Engineering

Institutions

Historically, universities in Pakistan have been unable to keep pace with recent advances of knowledge in

science and Technology. The perspective 10-Year Plan focuses mainly on improving quality of education

and increasing efficiency of university education, with the emphasis now on quality scientific and

technological education through provision of better facilities, faculty, scientific equipment and library

books and journals etc.

The present project aims at improving the situation in professional universities by providing them with

Advanced Design Software Licenses. If the stipulated objectives are achieved with fair degree of success,

it may encourage extending it to the next phase. The present project, therefore, aims at exclusively

improving the quality of education training, and, R&D activities in the universities.

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In first phase, advanced design softwares have been provided to engineering universities/degree

awarding institutions to increase the technical and learning skills of the students. In this connection

various advanced design softwares relating to mechanical engineering have been selected and tender for

procurement of theses softwares has also been floated in the newspapers.

In second phase, the scope of provision of advanced design softwares will be extended to other

disciplines such as Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Civil Engineering

and Electronics Engineering.

Senior Experts from Japan

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) dispatches experts and Japan Overseas Cooperation

Volunteers (JOCV) to developing countries, according to treaties and other forms of international

agreements, as a part of its technical cooperation. The objective of the Senior Volunteer Programme is to

actively support work for nation-building and human resource development in developing countries.

Various universities of Pakistan have submitted their requests for Senior Volunteer Experts from Japan

which have already been forwarded to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for further

processing by the HEC, which plays an intermediary role. As per the Senior Volunteer Dispatch schedule

of JICA, the Senior Volunteer Experts from Japan will be available in April-May, 2006.

Senior Experts from Germany

German Industry and the German Government are offering a short-term advisory service in Pakistan with

a view to promote economic development in the country through effective collaboration. The Senior

Expert Services (SES) “Honourary Service of the German Economy for International Cooperation GmbH” is

a service that comprises of more than 6,000 highly-qualified and senior experts who work on an

honourary basis in numerous branches of industry and education.

The Experts range from the fields of management of higher education institutions, development of

curriculum and study courses, capacity building of faculty and administrative staff, library management,

laboratory upgradation and management, building research infrastructure and capacity and many others.

Under this programme Dr. Fridrich Black Kolb, Ms. Stotle and Dr. Klaus Steltman have provided their

expertise and services to the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Human Resource

Department, University of the Punjab. Some other universities have also requested to avail the services of

senior experts from Germany in different fields. Their requests have been forwarded the relevant German

authorities for further processing.

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NATIONAL PRIORITIES FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

During the year 2004-05 the Planning and Development Division of HEC worked towards getting approval

of projects having national priority at CDWP level listed below. Most of these programmes reflect that the

human resource development effort is being tailored to meet industrial requirements. These include the

transition into specialized areas such as mobile wireless communications, terrestrial and satellite

communication, optical fiber communication, multimedia and networking for the telecom sector; the

development of highly specialized manpower for industrial and manpower engineering sector; the

development of relevant genome laboratory infrastructure and creation of specifically trained manpower

and state-of-the-art facilities in the areas of proteomics for development of medical sector etc.

A short listing of these projects is places as under:

Telecom sector:

Establishment of Institute of Communication Technologies at Mehran University of

Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro at a cost of Rs 189.426 million.

Keeping in view the tremendous growth of telecom sector and low tele-density in the country there is

great scope and consumption of telecom engineers, experts, technicians and solution providers. Therefore

Mehran University of Engineering & Technology aspired to augment its existing programmes and produce

quality telecom personnel in various specialized areas such as mobile wireless communications, terrestrial

and satellite communication, optical fiber communication, multimedia and networking under the umbrella

of the Institute of Communication Technologies (ICT).

For rapid growth of the economy, the work force of a country should equally share their skills and

expertise. There are diverse indigenous problems which need immediate implementation of telecom

technologies. The project is in line with the objectives of perspective Plan and Education Sectors Reforms

(ESR) Action Plan and closely linked with other programmes of HEC launched for the promotion of higher

education in Science and Technology.

MUET will offer research facilities in the field of communication technologies in order to provide basis for

industrial development in this field, facilitate hi-tech research in ICT, provide consultancy services in

traditional telecom sectors as well as new technologies and services, enhance faculty development,

develop indigenous technology in order to reduce dependence on developed countries and improve socio-

economic conditions in the country.

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In quantitative terms the project aims to establish the state-of-the-art Institute of Communication

Technologies to provide highly-skilled manpower, to initially produce 80 quality graduates in

telecommunication engineering annually which will be increased to 120 within four years. It will also

produce high quality telecom professionals and skilled manpower for industry, S&T organizations and

educational institutions of the country in various specialized fast emerging fields such as communication

systems and networks; mobile wireless communication; terrestrial and satellite communication; optical

fiber communication, multimedia communication, advanced network, telemedicine, telecommuting,

remote sensing, e- commerce, backbone networks e-learning etc.

IT sector:

Establishment of Manufacturing Technology Development Centre (MTDC) at Department of

Mechanical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore at a cost of

Rs 120 million.

Pakistan lags behind in the development of manufacturing technologies and in meeting the challenges of

the forthcoming global free trade scenario. To meet the acute shortage of engineers in this discipline a

programme in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering has already been started at UET, both at

undergraduate and postgraduate level.

The Manufacturing Technologies Development Centre (MTDC) aims to bring together a multi-disciplinary

faculty and student body to form a talented forward-thinking research and educational programme that

targets specific industry needs in long and short-term research. The Centre will provide an infrastructure

for all types of manufacturing-related research, designing and implementation research programmes and

agenda that optimize strengths already in place at UET.

The Centre intends to undertake research work to develop manufacturing technologies to suit local

requirements and find solutions to industry related problems. Research will be carried out in areas of

precision machining, non-conventional processes, computer aided systems and measurement and

calibration, for which laboratories in each discipline will be made available.

In addition to industrial research, the Centre will also support the existing programmes of the faculty. The

Centre will also offer short courses of one to six weeks duration in specialized topics such as

manufacturing systems, total quality management, production planning and control, computer aided

manufacturing, work measurement, job evaluation, production cost analysis, work simplification and

design, logistics in plant operation and operation research. These courses will help industries which

cannot spare their engineers/managers for long periods to improve their performance. A total of 100

engineers will graduate at BSc and MSc level per year.

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Medical Sector:

Establishment of National Centre for Genomics (CoE) in Centre of Excellence in Molecular

Biology (CEMB) at University of the Punjab, Lahore at cost of Rs 188.724 with foreign

exchange cost of Rs 42.900 million.

The establishment of a Genomics Research Centre at CEMB is a moderate initiative to develop relevant

laboratory infrastructure and create specifically trained manpower. Apart from scattered efforts, there is

no other laboratory engaged in genomic research in the country.

The project aims to develop a dedicated genomics research laboratory equipped and manned at par with

international laboratories, to create a cadre of manpower specifically trained in genomics research

through short specialized courses by involving experienced and trained faculty engaged in similar

programmes in US universities, and initiate a definitive programme of structural and functional genomics.

The Centre will be an advanced teaching and research institution related to a) Plant genomics, b) human

genomics, c) animal genomics and d) microbial genomics. It will address the following areas of research:

structural genomics to identify genomic factors responsible for genetic disorders, development of

molecular diagnostics and understanding of biochemical pathways of diseases, leading to treatment and

creation of DNA databases for predictive and prevention health care; functional genomics to understand

the specific biological functions encoded by a sequence through detailed genetic and phenotypic analysis

and comparative genomics of pathogenic microbes; in computational biology, it will develop new

algorithms, softwares and tools for data mining and data warehousing applications particularly related to

human and microbial genomes.

When fully operational, 30 students will receive training at MPill and PhD levels while there will be an

inflow/outflow of 10 students annually. Research work will be carried out and in-service teachers will

receive training at the Centre. As the Centre is a teaching and research institution, its output cannot be

quantified in monetary terms. But it can be safely said that the investment seems minimal compared to

potential benefits that are likely to occur. The Centre is expected to open new avenues of DNA research in

various federally funded research establishments, leading to commercial exploitation of indigenous

resources.

Establishment of Centre for Advanced Studies in Vaccinology and Biotechnology (CASVAB) at

University of Balochistan, Quetta at a cost of Rs 180 million.

Vaccines against many important and prevalent diseases are not manufactured in the country since

production methodologies and relevant infrastructures were not available. But now the Centre will

establish eight laboratories, namely: molecular biology, virology, bacteriology, biotechnology, nutrition,

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toxicology, physiology and technology transfer or research, education and production.

The Centre also aims to produce useful vaccines against animal and poultry diseases while the main focus

of the project is to develop a strong human resource force to cater to future demand. The faculty will

focus on research and higher education by addressing the health and production issues of livestock for

better food security for the masses.

At present there are able graduates who can qualify for doctoral programme but could not till now due to

insufficient resources; the Centre will be a boost to these professionals. The inspiration of the upgradation

of the Veterinary Research Institute and Feed Resources Laboratory into a Centre of Advance Studies in

Vaccinology and Biotechnology is to identify problems in the eight proposed fields of biological sciences

and provide possible solution to difficulties. The training and education of professionals at CASVAB will be

a landmark in solving the problems of the allied entrepreneurs and industries in Pakistan. It will ensure

sustainable research analytical systems.

There is ample room to identify the current emerging problems in biotechnology and allied fields. With the

expansion and development of coastal area of Balochistan, a boon in the fisheries industry is expected in

the near future. The Centre will provide and generate human resource to over come the problems before

they begin. The training of toxicology will cater to the quality control procedures of food and feed

industries to withstand WTO regulations. It is expected that 60-70 per cent trained personnel will be

absorbed in the industry accordingly.

Establishment of National Centre for Proteomics at University of Karachi, Karachi at a cost of

Rs 169 million.

Currently the cutting edge research in life sciences is in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.

Genomics has made available DNA sequences of many species of viruses, bacteria, yeasts, insects, plants

and animals. Proteins are the primary constituents of cellular structure- they control and mediate cellular

functions. Proteomics is now an essential component of basic and applied biological, biochemical and

medical sciences. The National Centre of Proteomics aims to provide state-of-the-art facilities in the area

of Proteomics for Pakistan, where there is no current institute dedicated to this field. Many researchers

have a fragmented research approach due to the lack of sophisticated instruments and active

collaboration within the country.

The Centre aims to be a core facility with multiple proteomic technologies. It will be equipped for protein

analysis, mass determination, identification and characterization. The techniques to be set up will include

sample preparation and gel-based proteomics, gel analysis, automated spot cutting, protein digestion and

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MALDI-TOF target spotting, peptide mass-finger printing, database searching, MALDI-TOF and Q-TRAP

mass spectrometry, protein sequencing techniques (post source decay analysis, chemically-assisted

fragmentation chemistry and protein labeling techniques ICAT and DIGE.

Proteome research can be used to identify; biomarkers specific to a particular disease, disease specific

membrane targets to develop antibodies, protein modification examine the effects of a particular drug on

cellular components, observe post-translational changes in protein product study cellular processes,

develop tools for gene therapy, and discover differentially expressed proteins.

In quantitative terms it will be a national core facility with multiple proteomic technologies and machines

to facilitate research in the country. It will train and develop high quality manpower in the field, stimulate

interaction between academia and industries to develop linkages, train students and faculty by short term

training programmes. The Centre will work closely with various departments such as biochemistry,

biotechnology, chemistry, microbiology, physiology, food science and technology.

Engineering Sector:

Establishment of Institute of Mechatronics in Peshawar Campus of NWFP University of

Engineering and Technology, Peshawar at cost of Rs 147.600 million with foreign exchange

cost of Rs 64.485 million.

The project has been devised to increase access to higher and specialized education and produce

qualified technical manpower in Mechatronic Engineering.

The overall aim of the project is to expand, modernize and improve existing facilities of the present

campus to undertake undergraduate/postgraduate training and research programme and to open a new

Institute of Mechatronics Engineering. In addition, this institute will serve as an incubation centre to foster

ideas and projects related to mechatronics industry.

The direct benefit of the establishment of the Institute will be production of quality graduates in the field

of mechatronics engineering. The project will initiate BSc Mechatronics Engineering to be followed by MSc

and PhD in the field. Nearly 25 graduates will qualify per year to meet enhance indigenous capacity in this

knowledge-intensive field.

Establishment of National Institute of Vacuum Science & Technology (NINVAST), Sector H-11/4,

Islamabad at a cost of Rs 195.00 million with foreign exchange cost of Rs 58.00 million.

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The area of Vacuum technology suffers not only from lack of proper training and educational institutions

for fresh entrants in Pakistan, but it further does not possess facilities for training and education of staff,

scientists and engineers at specialist levels. The establishment of this high-tech institute shall act as a

base to provide trained manpower to industry and scientific and research institutions of Pakistan.

The project aims at creating an institution operating as per international norms of productivity and

originality for acquisition, generation, transmission, dissemination and application of knowledge in vacuum

technology and allied disciplines. The centre will to promote research in vacuum technology and at level

of excellence through distinguished visitors programme, provision of advanced training in specialized

areas (particular target groups will be junior university faculty, college teachers and staff of research

organizations) to develop and produce vacuum technology equipment in the country and solve local

industry problems, to update training and operation procedures of various vacuum systems operating in

the country and coordination of international, national, regional conferences, workshops, symposia,

colleges and seminars in vacuum technology and allied sciences.

The Institute will provide services such as design and development, repair and maintenance to various

industrial research and educational institutions. Facilities will be provided to fellows from the universities

to involve themselves in emerging technologies and development. BE and MS degrees leading to PhD

programmes in vacuum technology will be offered with an emphasis on applications of vacuum

technology.

Medical & Legal sector:

Establishment of Forensic DNA Laboratory at Centre of Excellence for Molecular Biology

(CEMB), University of the Punjab, Lahore at a cost of Rs 37.499 million.

The project aims to develop relevant laboratory infrastructure, create specifically trained manpower and

apply procedures developed at CEMB for identification of humans in crime investigation and parenthood

identification. So far there is no public or private institution dedicated towards research in Forensic DNA

research in the country.

The aim is to upgrade an existing Nucleus DNA Typing facility into a full scale laboratory, improve the

strength of DNA Typing procedures by incorporating serology, chemistry and analytical procedures,

conduct short 12 specialized training courses in forensic DNA, for police officers, civil judges prosecuting

officers, defence attorneys and hospital technicians and create a cadre of 10 well trained personnel to

undertake case work in crime investigation.

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The main focus of forensic biology is to reliably Type the DNA from different biological tissues (normally

human and most often blood, semen, saliva, nails and hair), construct DNA profile as markers of

information about the individual and assess how common or rare such a source is in a relevant

population. The advent of modern DNA technology has resulted in the increased ability to perform human

identity testing. Individual identification is desirable in a number of situations including determination of

perpetrators of violent crime, resolving un-established paternity and identifying remains of missing

persons or victims of mass disasters.

Material Science Sector:

Establishment of Institute of Advanced Materials Science (Phase 1) at Bahauddin Zakariyah

University, Multan at a cost of Rs 173.744 with a foreign exchange of Rs 62.840 million.

Material Science is an inter-disciplinary subject bringing together expertise from physics, chemistry,

engineering and metallurgy. Developed nations are excelling in every sphere of life due to their

advancement in the field of new materials. Expertise in Material Science and engineering forms the basis

for progress.

The Institute of Advanced Materials Science will serve as the hub for this research activity in Pakistan, and

will be established as part of the Department of Physics. It aims to interact with the industry and help to

maintain and upgrade quality of their product as Materials related industry encourages contacts with

research and teaching organizations. Till now there is no place where manpower is trained in this field at

higher level. Only recently some of the universities have redesigned their department of metallurgy into

departments of material science and engineering.

The Centre will provide trained manpower in the field of Material Science. It will become an institution of

teaching and research and enhance industrial development of the country. The facility will become a

centre of excellence in this field and train manpower at higher as well as lower level of teaching and

research to be absorbed by R&D organizations.

The Institute will ultimately develop to train 100 BSc, 40 MPhil and 20 PhD students.

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97

PROMOTING GOVERNANCEPROMOTING GOVERNANCE

INTRODUCTION

Governance embraces all methods that societies use to distribute power and manage public resources and

problems efficiently, effectively and in accordance with the needs of society. The issue of good governance

in higher education is crucial not only in the promotion of democratic culture within the higher education

community but also in society at large; it is also indispensable to undertaking the profound reforms

required to create a dynamic higher education system.

Good governance is a crucial element of the quality culture of both systems and institutions of higher

education. It would not be possible to achieve quality higher education without good governance.

Furthermore, good governance is critical in promoting social cohesion and in affording equal opportunity

to higher education for all those qualified. Given the role higher education has for the overall societal and

economic development, we see the necessity to ensure the responsiveness of higher education to the

changing needs and expectations of society.

Promoting governance in Higher Education is a key factor in improving the services delivered through the

universities in Pakistan to all stakeholders. To improve the quality of education and research at universities

an improvement is required in their management and operation. The Higher Education Commission aims

to assist institutions in identifying areas requiring reform, identifying best practices, and suggesting

mechanisms for improvement.

The HEC focuses primarily on Administrative Governance based on the principles of public participation,

transparency and accountability to achieve organizational targets and objectives in best possible manner

within the organization, as well as assisting and working with the Universities and Degree Awarding

Institutes to establish similar working parameters of good governance and management to execute

policies and strategies developed and promoted by the HEC. The HEC aims to set an example for good

governance, through the implementation effective e-governance practices at the HEC itself, which will be

replicated in educational institutions across the country.

In 2004-2005, the Higher Education Commission has set the trend in implementing e-government

solutions. Through partnerships with a leading accounting company, AF Ferguson & Co., the HEC has

introduced and implemented a modern financial management system to increase the management,

efficiency and transparency of financial transactions within the organization. The HEC Monitoring Cell has

consistently been reviewing the implementation of all the development projects of our organization, and

has been controlling the financial releases to these projects on the basis of this evaluation process.

The e-HEC programme envisions complete business process re-engineering of HEC towards a 'less- paper'

environment. The HEC aims to be a Knowledge-enabled organization where information is logically stored

and accessible to all for informed decision making. The public, who we serve, will be able to interact with

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HEC for two-way information sharing with no bureaucracy barriers.

Governance Matrix

The HEC had developed a Governance Matrix that stipulates the various important guidelines, policy

decisions and actions required to be implemented by the Public Sector Universities and Degree Awarding

Institutes for improving quality standards and the relevance of higher education and research. The HEC

has also instituted during 2004-05 arrangements whereby the implementation status of this matrix is

consistently monitored to link future funding to the Universities/Institutes on their overall performance

and level of compliance with the governance criteria/matrix and the policy initiatives prescribed by the

HEC.

Following are the core policy initiatives under the Governance Matrix:

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Meetings of the Commission

th thIn the Financial Year 2004-2005, the 6 and 7 meetings of the Commission under the Chairmanship of

Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman were held on August 12, 2004 and December 21, 2004 respectively. The

Commission discussed various issues pertinent to the improvement of governance, quality and

management of the sector.

One of the key issues discussed in the Meetings of the Commission was that of governance and the

impact assessment of HEC's programmes on the overall environment of universities. The objective in this

regard is to implement a consistent programme of impact assessment, and for the programmes of the

HEC to be performance-oriented. Refererence was made to the Action Plan Matrix developed by the HEC,

which indicates crucial policy initiatives that are required to be implemented by the Universities/Degree

Awarding Institutes. Strict enforcement options like suspension of development projects would be

exercised to ensure the complete compliance of these guidelines by the beneficiary institutions.

The Commission further suggested the need to collaborate with Pakistan Medical and Dental Council to

control the mushroom growth of Private Medical Colleges, which deliver poor quality education.

Additional agreements were made with the Planning Commission to allow the purchase of land out of the

available PSDP allocations for Mega Projects on case-by-case basis. The Commission also suggested that a

Sub-Committee be constituted to work out the philosophy of education in institutions of higher learning.

The Chairman informed that the Universities are being requested to create 10 posts of Assistant

Professors annually so as to accommodate the fresh PhD scholars. The Chairman also commented that

the real impact of HEC's policies will come through human resource development in a period of 5-7 years.

The Commission Members agreed that a revised criterion was needed for selection to the posts of

Meritorious Professors in BPS 21 and BPS 22, and approved the proposed Statutes regarding promotion to

the above subject to the following amendments and confirmation of the Commission's Members on the

amended statutes. These include:

? For promotion to the positions of Meritorious Professors (BPS-21), a minimum of 10 marks would

be specified for research publications during the last few 5 years as a Professor in BS-20.

? Two marks would be awarded per book authored, and for books edited internationally a maximum

of four marks would be assigned.

? A provision for the post-PhD qualification as well as international honours would be incorporated

into the consideration process for promotion.

? The basic grading procedure for promotion to the positions of Meritorious Professors in BPS-21 as

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well as in BPS-22 would be consistent with each other. In case of promotion to the positions of Meritorious

Professors in BPS-22, a filter /eligibility condition of a minimum of three (3) publications in international

indexed or abstracted journals in the last three years as Meritorious Professors in BPS-21 would be added.

Vice Chancellor's Search Committee

The Federal Universities Ordinance 2002 prescribes a Search Committee Mechanism for the appointment

of Vice Chancellors/Rectors of Public Sector Universities/Degree Awarding Institutes to provide for a broad

based selection of a scholar and professional who could provide executive leadership in academic,

research and developmental activities of their institution in the best possible manner. Accordingly, on a

Summary for the President initiated by the HEC on December 01, 2004, the President/Chancellor of

Federal Public Sector Universities, on January 11, 2005, was pleased to approve following Search

Committee mechanism for the appointment of Vice Chancellors/Rector in Federal Universities/Institutes:

? HEC will forward names of proposed members of Vice Chancellor Search Committee to be

approved by the Chancellor.

? HEC will advertise the position of the Vice Chancellor.

? The Search Committee will short-list and interview candidates.

? The Search Committee will forward 3 names to the Chancellor for consideration.

? The Chancellor may appoint any of the proposed persons or ask for a fresh panel of names.

? The Powers of removal of the Vice Chancellor under the conditions determined by the Chancellor

will lie with the Chancellor.

Accordingly, on April 26, 2005, the President/Chancellor of Federal Universities constituted a Search

Committee for the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and the Vice

Chancellor of Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. The Search Committee processed the selection in

accordance with the approved procedure and forwarded its recommendations to the President of Pakistan.

For improving governance and management of Public Sector Universities and providing a dynamic and

visionary leadership to the provincially chartered Universities as well, the HEC has approached and is

working with the Provincial Governors to approve a similar process for the appointment of Vice

Chancellors of Provincial Universities/Institutes. This proposal has already been approved by the NWFP

Governor, whereas for its adoption in the remaining Provinces and the AJ&K, the matter has been referred

to forum of Chancellors' Committee which is headed by the President of Pakistan and, inter alia,

represented by the four Provincial Governors and the President AJ&K.

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Monitoring of Projects & Programmes

The regular periodic review of HEC Funded Development Projects is a crucial measure designed to

institute better management of development projects, particularly at the level of Universities and Degree

Awarding Institutes to promote the effectiveness of expenditure of public funds. During the year under

report, the HEC monitoring team headed by D.G. (SV&QA) physically visited and reviewed 232 projects

financed under PSDP 2004-05. The projects have been categorized based on parameters such as 'project

execution strength', 'financial and project management system of the agency', 'compliance of financial

disciplines', 'government rules of business for procurement', 'hiring of services and staff' and 'adherence

to PC-1 provisions'. The lack of knowledge and any deviation from these affect the progress rating of a

project. If and when any deviation from the PC-1 or any inconsistency in codal formalities is observed, the

agency is warned against the subject deviation or inconsistency, and asked to rectify these discrepancies.

The progress rating of the PSDP projects and financial utilization against the released funds are presented

in the tables below.

Progress Ratings of 232 Development Projects financed under PSDP 2004-05

Financial Status of 232 Development Projects financed under PSDP 2004-05

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Faculty Tenure Track System: Finalization of Terms of Adoption

To institute a mechanism of open recognition of merit with grant of permanence of employment only on

the demonstration of excellence as determined by a body containing international experts in the relevant

subject matter (for the over all development of academic and research environment), the Model Tenure

Track System (TTS) was launched by the HEC in 2003-04. By July 2004, 15 Universities had either

adopted the TTS or agreed to process its adoption through their statutory bodies. This figure has risen to

37 by the end of reporting period i.e. June 2005. Furthermore, HEC has continued its efforts under its

Quality Assurance Programme to meet with the Vice Chancellors of the Universities and further discuss

and facilitate the adoption the Faculty Tenure Track System.

INTERVENTIONS UNDERTAKEN AT HEC LEVEL

HEC Business Automation System

The HEC Business Automation System, launched in September 2004, aims to improve and facilitate the

HEC Management Systems by introducing advanced and innovative methods to manage various

operations of HEC. The HEC Business Automation System plans to improve the HEC management system

by introducing the concept of an accrual-based double-entry system of accounting in line with generally

accepted accounting principles and to automate the key financial applications in line with the New

Accounting Model (NAM) adopted by the Government of Pakistan. Further, automation of key non-financial

procedures like Human Resource Management, Inventory Management, Fixed Asset Management and

Project Management provide an integrated framework for the financial and operational activities of HEC.

Effective integration of the offices of HEC as well as the tracking of transactions with various universities is

also planned through the implementation of Business Automation System at a later stage.

Following modules were processed and developed during 2004-05;

? Financial Management System

? Human Resource Management

? Project Management

? Grant Management

The Financial Management System (FMS) is a comprehensive module, which caters for all financial

management needs of a public sector higher education institution. This module maintains information

related to banks and process banking transactions, advances, payables and receivables. The FMS is also

required to maintain budget related information for the execution of FMS transactions. Finally, the FMS

also includes the general ledger, which is integrated with all other modules and all financial transactions

are recorded in the general ledger through transaction recording on various forms related to each

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business cycle. The FMS also includes features related to fixed asset management and inventory

management.

The Human Resource Management System (HRMS) includes a variety of human resource activities

including recruitment, payroll, training, terminations, retirement, promotions and employee performance

evaluation. This module includes all HEC personnel and covers the life cycle of an employee from

employment till retirement. Payroll processing is integrated with the FMS.

The Project Management System (PMS) is a comprehensive application encompassing the complete life-

cycle of project development, execution and monitoring. It includes features for processing of new project

proposals in accordance with the requirements of project PC-1's. After approval, projects are initiated and

payments are processed through FMS under the constraints of the approved project budgets.

The Grant Management System (GMS) has been developed to cater for financial transaction recording

related to receipts of all types of grants and payment of grants to universities including recurring or bulk.

However, payments to universities of grants related to development projects are processed through the

Project Management System.

Except for Human Resource Management Module, all the modules have been launched and are presently

under going report generating trials to determine their efficacy. The Introduction of similar Business

Automation System at the University/Institute level is an important MTDF (Medium Term Development

Framework) target and is being negotiated with the Universities/Institutes.

Trainings

In house trainings of HEC employees is an important routine activity at HEC aimed at continuously

improving skills and capacities of its staff. During FY 2004-05, a series of trainings were organized for HEC

supporting staff, lower and middle management in a few important areas such as Office Procedures, Rules

of Business, Administrative Tools, Accounting and Financial Management, Computer skills/ICD, Enhancing

Secretariat Skills, Evaluation of Projects, Project Management and Human Resources Management.

However, recognizing that training in modern trends, technologies and skills of HEC's top decision makers

is also crucial for continuous institutional development of the HEC, adequate financial resources have been

earmarked (viz. Rs.2.00 million) in the HEC Budget 2005-06 under the respective head.

ISO 9000 Certification

The Higher Education Commission has constituted a Committee for implementation of ISO 9000

Certification, headed by the Member (Operations & Planning). A consultant from UK has been hired by the

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HEC to render expert advice to the Committee and to facilitate the ISO 9000 implementation process.

In line with the recommendations of the Consultant, the Committee has requested all the Departments of

HEC which fall under the scope of audit to provide information regarding job specification and description

of the process owners and documentary proof of the prevailing in-house standard operating procedures.

In addition to this, the concerned departments have been advised to nominate focal persons who will act

as Departmental ISO Facilitators. The departments have started providing the requisite information on the

prescribed format to the Committee and once complete information is gathered, an ISO Procedure Manual

in line with clauses of ISO 9001:2000 will be prepared. This manual will convey the intent of the HEC

Management and will be used as a reference document by all the employees of the Commission in future.

Together with the work instructions the quality manual will serve as a reference documents to the third

party i.e., external auditors.

It is anticipated that the HEC will achieve the ISO 9000 certification within next six months.

HEC Senior Management Committee

The HEC Senior Management Committee was constituted during FY 2004-05 with the objective of

providing regular opportunities to collectively discuss core issues concerning HEC and evolve solutions on

the basis of their collective wisdom. This Committee is headed by the Executive Director and includes the

Member (O&P), all the Advisers, and the Director General (A&C), Director General (Admin.) and the

Director General (Audit) as its members. During FY 2004-05, 6 meetings of the Senior Management

Committee were held which remained successful in identifying management issues, finding appropriate

solutions and in ensuring that the decisions taken at this level were effectively implemented.

Internal Project Review and Coordination Meetings

Internal Project Review Meetings chaired by the Executive Director, HEC represent an important forum

that provides monthly opportunities to review the implementation status of the development projects

being implemented by the HEC. This institutional setup is in addition to the routine monitoring

arrangement, and facilitates the review of the HEC development projects at the top executive level. Four

such meetings were held during 2004-05.

E-HEC

E-governance, or electronic governance, refers to governance processes in which Information and

Communications Technologies (ICT) play an active and significant role. Technology plays an important role

in making the use of information more strategic. However, e-governance is not about technology, it is

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about identifying what the key governance needs are that need to be fulfilled, and then envisaging

models by which these needs could be fulfilled appropriately and with ease. ICT plays the important role

of powering these models, which allows information flow in great speeds and volumes, which may

otherwise be impossible to stream using conventional communication means.

In realization of the role ICT can play in the governance sector, the HEC is putting into practice innovative

e-Governance models that are drastically changing the way information is distributed. Entitled the e-HEC

initiative, our organization is revamping its internal structure to exemplify itself as a model organization

for this process. The main aims of e-HEC vision are to introduce less paper environment in HEC, reduce

unnecessary steps involved in business processing, and attune the normal business process so that it

becomes fast, accurate, efficient and secure.

Adopting this model requires a very secure and robust infrastructure that will ensure maximum ease of

use while protecting the privacy of users while equally protecting the services from the various spam,

worms and other types of 'denial of service' attacks that are becoming increasingly common. Much of the

focus in past years has been towards increasing the capacity and resilience in the IT infrastructure. A

great deal of more infrastructural and application development work remains to be done before one can

fully avail of the services associates with e-HEC vision, particularly in such the large, diverse and open

infrastructure of HEC.

Significant developments during the year include:

? Completion of the major part of HEC campus wide networking over fiber optic backbone.

? Enhancement of the staff e-mail system.

? Provision of the computers for all HEC employees involved in office work.

? Provision of laptops for higher management to overcome mobility concerns.

? Extension in the existing HEC external web portal.

? Development of HEC internal web portal.

? Development for different web based tools for automation, monitoring and reports generation

regarding different HEC ongoing projects.

? Automation of HEC policies and procedures.

The HEC Website remained the leading government agency website during the financial year, with over a

5 million hits. The e-HEC Programme passed another landmark through the launch of the HEC Workspace

Portal. This portal comes with a document management system, an employee directory tool and other

applications for efficient work management and collaboration, and is a major step towards fully

automating the HEC's business processes. All of the various tools and applications for the Workspace

portal were full developed in-house by our IT Department Team.

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Infrastructure

Providing a fast and reliable service on the network for each individual user requires more than just a high

bandwidth link to their desktop. It requires the elimination of bottlenecks through the enhancement of

throughput on the local area network and on link to internet. Therefore maintaining the network means a

constant effort at balancing various elements.

HEC Local Area Network (LAN)

The demand for the campus networks has been growing dramatically. Certain factors in particular have

contributed to this growth: the increase in number of users, and the nature of newer computer

applications and the increasing expectations of users, which have resulted in ever-increasing bandwidth

requirements.

Since this growth could not be accommodated indefinitely by incremental changes to the network, the IT

department started the re-development of the network infrastructure a few years ago. This re-

development included:

Replacing network backbone with gigabit fiber optics

Replacing the local hubs and non-manageable switches with manageable access layer switches

Establishment of HEC data centre

The installation of core switching equipment which allow for multi-gigabit speeds on network

backbone

The installation of high end servers to house different IT services

Securing the HEC network through AAA, Firewall and IDS

Structured Data cabling in all HEC buildings and migration for Cat-V UTP cable to Cat-VI UTP

cable

Wireless hot spots inside HEC premises for better mobility

Client Remote Access VPN deployment in order to allow mobile HEC employee to access HEC LAN

LAN infrastructure improvement at HEC regional centers through structured cabling and mini

server room establishment

During the financial year under report, most of the above mentioned tasks were achieved. Enhancement

in the HEC LAN to link the Computer Training Centre, Library and Academic buildings through a fiber optic

backbone and structured cabling in these buildings will be accomplished during next year. Furthermore,

the data network infrastructure improvement at HEC Regional Centre, Lahore has been completed. Work

at the HEC Regional Centers in Karachi and Peshawar is under way.

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Balancing the bandwidth provision across all links is one of the most critical elements in the management

of a network. Having a 100 Mbps link from the desktop is of little value if there are bottlenecks further up

in the network. Therefore network improvement not only involves increased bandwidth, but restructuring

the network itself. With the deployment of the new data network, the IT division was able to achieve:

Increased bandwidth across campus;

? Completion of conversion from hub/non-manageable switched network to manageable switched

network;

? Restructuring of the network to provide a better balance between access, distribution and core

bandwidths;

? enhanced security and greater resilience;

? network scalability; and

? Enhanced user mobility.

Internet Access

The Internet has become a necessity for the survival of any organization. During the year the IT

Department increased its internet bandwidth to 2 Mbps. One redundant 2 Mbps DRS Link has been made

available as backup.

E-mail System

E-mail is primary a tool for inter and intra divisional communication. It is also a vital tool for

communication with the outside world. No other government institute is using e-mail at the same

magnitude as it is being used at Higher Education Commission.

In order to keep the HEC e-mail system efficient, resilient and fast, a new strategy has been adopted.

E-mail designated to user(s) within the organization does not route through internet. It is routed directly

using HEC LAN, so that the internal mail system keeps working even if the internet connection is down.

HEC employees may also access the internal e-mail system through VPN from any where in the world.

However, e-mail spam continues to be a major concern as the volume is growing exponentially. This is

due to the availability of extensive list of e-mail addresses on the web at very low costs. It presents an

ongoing risk to the maintenance of services. The IT division is looking at possible solutions that will

identify and possibly filter spam. However, in implementing such solutions, care is needed to ensure that

legitimate e-mail is not affected.

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Anti-Virus Strategy

Relative to other organizations, the IT division has been very successful in minimizing any service

disruption caused by viruses. This has been achieved through an anti-virus strategy which includes:

? An ongoing user-awareness campaign;

? Risk minimization by implementation of enterprise wide anti-virus security solution;

? Immediate alerts to users/network team once vulnerabilities are identified and advice on remedial

action;

? Ensuring that anti-virus software is kept up-to-date at all times;

? Checking all incoming email for viruses; and

? Regular updating of servers against newly discovered vulnerabilities by installing latest software

patches.

Business Continuation Strategy

Uninterrupted IT services were ensured by adopting the following strategy.

? Redundant wireless backbone has been deployed to keep the network up against exceptions like

fiber backbone repair, interruption and maintenance.

? Maximum network up-time has been ensured by installing UPS for edge switches.

? Server room UPS capacity has been enhanced and automatic switch over for diesel generator

installed.

? Backup procedure defined, such as, in case of emergency the network can be run from alternative

location.

Security Strategy

Network and Information System security is the key element in today's IT world. The following steps were

taken for HEC Network and Information System security:

? Physical security of edge switches and server room have been ensured.

? Frame work for 'Biometric Access Control System' for server room has been completed.

? Policies developed for every network resource.

? User data backup is kept for 10 days.

? Single sign on facility for (VPN, email, web portal, FTP, domain login, antivirus repository, projects

database, employee profile editing).

? Spam filtering rules have been defined and inside SMTP server was deployed to scan outgoing

mails for viruses.

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? Double filtration against un-ethical sites (which are the biggest source of viruses) at Squid and

Firewall.

? Automatic installation of security patches and most commonly used software on domain

computers.

Operating System Platform Up-gradation

? Network Servers and Directory architecture have been successfully migrated and up-graded from

Windows 2000 to newly purchased Windows 2003 Server.

? Exchange Server 2000 has been migrated to Exchange Server 2003 with same configurations and

mail boxes.

? All these tasks have been achieved with Zero network down time.

Laptop & PC Distribution

To overcome the mobility problem, thirty two (32) laptop computers have been provided during the year

to higher management. And in order to equip HEC employees to interface with e-Business model, one

hundred and ten (110) desktop PCs have been assigned to the HEC employees.

USER SUPPORT

Helpdesk

The IT helpdesk represents one of the most important areas of interaction between an organization's

operational departments and its internal users. This helps IT/Technical support department in effectively

managing and tracking issues. On average the helpdesk receives 400 complaints per month. Usually over

75% of the complaints are dealt with immediately. The reminder is then sorted on priority basis. The

helpdesk has improved its functionally by implementing a 'Trouble Ticketing Number (TTN)' system and

dedicating two telephone lines 416 & 418 as IT support.

Support on HEC Mega Events

The IT department has also provided technical support to HEC on its mega events such as Student

Conventions, University Games, etc. It has established a temporary data network at the Convention

Centre in Islamabad and Jinnah Sports Complex to provide printing facilities at these locations.

The information (announcements, schedules and results, etc) regarding these events have also been

posted on HEC external and internal web portal.

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Professional Development Programme

The IT department has started a 'Professional Development Programme' by hiring IT trainers and

providing an extensive range of training courses, workshops and seminars, ranging from novice to expert

level. The main objective of these courses is to transform the HEC work force into a highly skilled IT force.

Advance training courses have also been arranged for IT division staff in order to keep them updated with

new technologies, trends and practices.

IT Training sessions

The following training courses were arranged by the IT Division during the period under report:

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113

Jan

2005

Feb

2005

Mar

2005

Apr

2005

May

2005

Jun

2005

Jul

2005

Month Unique

visitors

Number of

visits Pages Hits

Jan 2005 111871 145748 380908 913488

Feb 2005

119525

165053

503106

1124634

Mar 2005

122151

174031

544740

1244564

Apr 2005

201013

266024

421812

1060254

May 2005

224467

383606

693810

1613076

Jun 2005

123813

277090

532013

1333050

Jul 2005

28730

124089

137009

347270

Total

931570

1535641

3213398

7636336

Last seven (07) months hits statistics

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114

HEC Internal Web Portal

The IT division also launched the HEC internal web portal to improve inter and intra departmental

communication, and its utilization is increasing within the organization daily. The internal web portal

provides the following facilities:

? Document Management System

? Task Management System

? Event Management

? List Sharing/Contact Sharing

As a part of the HEC business process and procedure automation, different applications were developed

and these applications are integrated with the HEC internal web portal. These applications includes,

? HEC Employee Administration Directory (HEAD)

? Project Monitoring Tool (PMT)

? Scholarship Information Management System (SIMS)

? Departmental Web Pages (DWP)

? Announcements and Notices Sharing (ANS)

Future Plans: Looking Ahead

IT Policy Evaluation and Revision: An 'IT Policy Committee' is being planned to cope with the

problems of an ever-changing IT world.

Security Audit: An 'Information System Security' audit will be planned to ensure HEC information system

against threats, vulnerabilities and denial of service (DoS) attacks.

Network: HEC LAN will be extended and improved by connecting CTC building, Library building and

ACAD building to core switching system through fiber optic and structured cabling.

Training: Training programmemes are being planned to providing more extensive IT training for

employees.

Electronic business: The development of the infrastructure to support e-business will continue and

more information and facilities will be available for staff.

Application Testing: 'White Box' and 'Black Box' tests on applications developed in house and through

outsourcing are under planning process.

Code Optimization: It is planned to identify and define the 'bench marks' for code optimization of the

applications.

PERN II: The execution of PERN II will continue for improvement in PERN.

Video Conferencing: Public sector Universities and Institutes will be provided with this facility.

Therefore number of student that can attend online lecture will be increased and more scholars will be

able to interact with each other. Further more, online administrative meetings will become possible.

Inter-Provincial Exchange of Student Delegation

The programme was approved by DDWP in February, 2004 at a total cost of Rs 19.743 million over a

period of two years with the aim of encouraging national integration and cohesion amongst the youth

studying at provincial and federal universities through Inter-Provincial Exchange of Student Delegation. A

group of 14 students, including male and female students, undertake inter-provincial study tour. It

includes seminars, debating contests, games and extra curricular activities over a period of two weeks.

During the year under review thirty-six universities availed of the programme. Universities are being paid

Rs 165,000/- for the programme.

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PHYSICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTPHYSICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

115

INTRODUCTION

In the pursuit of institutional excellence in teaching and research, the HEC has made massive investments

to upgrade the physical infrastructure of universities, particularly to cater for the requirements of increased

enrollment in higher education, and to accommodate the students admitted through the various human

resource development programmes. Cognizant of the fact that traditional brick-and-mortar solutions to

improving access will only have an impact to a limited degree, the HEC has developed a comprehensive

ICT strategy to utilize ICTs and distance education to provide education to the masses.

Decades of under-investment in the Higher Education system have left the physical infrastructure of

universities unable to meet the demands of an ever-increasing demographic. Strategies for increasing

enrolment in higher education, improving research capacity, and improving quality of education

programmes have all required that the necessary infrastructure exist to ensure the success of intervention

strategies. In this regard, the HEC is complementing these activities through a host of physical and

technological infrastructure programmes, to provide high-quality education services to the sector.

The HEC has continued to work with the Planning and Finance divisions of the Government of Pakistan to

ensure that the recurring and development needs of the various public sector universities are provided for.

The development expenditure of the universities is allocated on performance and need, where the need is

defined both in terms of the particular requirements of that institution as well as the need for

improvement in the higher education sector at a macro level.

During 2004-2005, Universities were encouraged to submit development projects that are relevant to their

institutional needs. These projects are submitted for review by the appropriate authority (DDWP, CDWP or

ECNEC- dependant on project expenditure), and funds are released accordingly.

Universities are now encouraged to submit 'University Mega-Projects', which contain all of the

development activities the universities envisage to complete over a period of five to seven years. These

Mega-Projects are designed according to individual institutional visions and objectives, and are placed for

review at the ECNEC level.

The Planning & Development Division of Higher Education Commission formulates, coordinates and

implements plans through consultations with all concerned universities/institutions with regard to

development projects to necessary infrastructure to impart quality education and research. While

preparing the projects, the Division works to ensure relevance to the country's economy, and thus looks at

academic and infrastructure development in a synergistic manner.

2004-05

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The Government of Pakistan has taken significant steps towards enhancing the annual developmental

allocation for the higher education sector of Pakistan. The Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP)

budget allocation for the higher education sector in the FY 2001-2002, was only Pak Rs 0.423 billion, while

this year the allocation reached at Rs 11.700 Billion, showing the increased commitment of the

government in strengthening this important sector in Pakistan.

Planning for Knowledge-Based Economy

During the Year 2004-05, a total of 188 projects were approved, of which 136 projects were of DDWP

Level, 46 of CDWP level and 6 were approved by ECNEC. The numbers of approved projects during 2004-

05 were 22% higher than last year 2003-04. A comparison of growth of development projects and volume

of these projects are shown below.

During the reporting year, the main focus of the approved development projects was on the provision of

academic infrastructure and research equipment to the institutions. Human Resources Development was

also given importance as the projects worth Rs 2.086 billions (18% of the total approved cost) were

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approved to impart trainings to researchers and faculty members at various levels. The item wise percent

of the approved cost of the development projects financed during FY 2004-05 is given below.

Financing for Quality Enhancement

During the fiscal year 2004-05, Rs. 8.940 billion was allocated to 322 new and on-going projects of the

universities /institutions. The sector wise distribution of PSDP funds are given below.

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The potential of Information and Communication Technologies to advance the development agenda is highly

dependant on the strength of the telecommunications infrastructure. The Higher Education Commission has

been tackling this issue in a holistic manner, primarily through the establishment and continued strengthening

of the PERN Programme. (see Chapter 2--- Improving Access for more details)

This network has gone from strength to strength over the past year, and now connects 58 universities, and

when fully deployed will connect all of the public and private sector universities of Pakistan to each other. This

network provides the ideal platform to build an "internet compatible" truly high-speed network that will allow

real-time transfer of audio and video, multimedia-enabled lectures, remote research partnerships, and many

other applications hitherto unknown.

The terrestrial computer network of PERN is complemented by several digital television channels dedicated for

education in the new Pakistan satellite that is expected to be operational by the end of the year. This

combination of video over dedicated satellite channels and data/audio/multimedia over the Pakistan Education

and Research Network will provides a world-class distance-learning platform.

In order to enhance the technological capacities of institutions, the continued implementation of the University

Computerization and Networking Programmes of the HEC has provided public sector universities with funds to

establish a computerized infrastructure to provide a modern and effective working environment. By installing

Local and Wide Area Networking systems (LAN/WAN) the project furnishes universities with modern

communications systems, supporting local intranet, internet, and PERN accessibility.

The leading service provided on this network, the Digital Library Programme, aims to empower the academic

community with the requisite technology information resources, and training to develop human capacity to

manage the transition to the information culture. The programme has grown significantly in 2004-2005, and

now provides a service with no international parallel, by providing a vast quantity of the highest quality

academic databases online to all participating institutions at no cost (for further details see Chapter 3-

Promoting Excellence in Research).

TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

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QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATIONQUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION

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INTRODUCTION

Quality in higher education is a dynamic entity, and is the outcome of interaction amongst many factors

that determine a state of equilibrium reached at various levels. These include, inter alia, leadership, quality

of faculty, quality of students, infrastructure facilities, research and learning environment, governance,

strategic planning, assessment procedures, and market forces. Historically, in our Higher Education

Institutions, this equilibrium has stuck at a very low level. To achieve improvements requires reform in

each one of the contributory factors. In the Pakistani context, additional factors like poor quality of

education at the secondary level, poor grasp of English language by students, and the unstable socio-

political environment of universities heavily impact and push the quality equilibrium further down.

The Higher Education has developed a strategic vision to address the relevant issues with strong support

of the Government to achieve improvements in the equilibrium to be at par with international standards of

quality in Higher Learning. The HEC has adopted a multidirectional approach focused on the issue of

quality improvement and has placed particular emphasis on: a) the improvement of quality of faculty,

infrastructure improvement, improvement of the research and learning environment, updating of curricula,

governance issues, assessment issues, and accreditation of new Universities and Degree Awarding

Institutions.

For improving the quality of the faculty the number of opportunities for improving qualifications at PhD

and Post-doctoral levels has been increased tremendously. Apart from the financial incentives for the

faculty which have been multiplied manifold, the research and teaching environment has been

substantially improved through infrastructural improvement and better governance to reverse the “brain

drain” cycle.

HEC Quality Assurance Programme (QAP)

Under the strategic direction of the Quality Assurance Committee, set up by the Chairman of the HEC in

2004, comprising eminent professionals and academicians, a new comprehensive Quality Assurance

Programme (QAP) is being developed. The aim of this programme is to provide an "integrated Quality

Assurance & Enhancement Service" for Pakistan's Higher Education sector. A website for the QAP has been

launched, which is accessible from the HEC homepage.

The HEC Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Project

As a core activity of the QAP the HEC launched the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) project in late 2004

with objectives of safeguarding public interest by enforcing sound standards of higher education

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qualifications and encouraging continuous improvement in the management of quality in higher education.

The QAA will achieve these aims by reviewing and further developing the higher education benchmarks

and quality criteria, and by providing guidelines to define clear and explicit standards. The HEC Quality

Assurance Committee is responsible for the overall conduct and strategic direction of the QAA's activities.

The new HEC QAA project is planned to be completed in three phases. The first phase of this Project has

been launched with an approved budget of Rs. 23.06 million for the financial year 2005-6. This will involve

the setting up of 'Quality Enhancement Cells' at 10 selected universities across Pakistan. During this phase,

the QAA will also develop a cadre of Master Trainers in QA for capacity building of the QEC professionals

based at the selected Universities. The next two phases of the QAA project will cover the remaining 45

public-sector DAIs/Universities followed by the private sector universities.

The list of selected universities where the new QECs will be established during the (ongoing) first phase of

the QAA Project is given below:

1. University of Karachi, Karachi

2. Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro, Sindh

3. The University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffarabad

4. University of Agriculture, Faisalabad

5. University of the Punjab, Lahore

6. University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore

7. University of Peshawar, Peshawar

8. University of Baluchistan, Quetta

9. Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

10. National University of Sciences & Technology, Rawalpindi

Further information and latest updates on the QAA project are available on the QAP website.

Quality Criteria for PhD/MPhil Studies

As major policy directive of the QA Committee has been to develop a new set of internationally-compatible

quality criteria for the award of a PhD degree. These criteria will be implemented uniformly by the

Pakistani Degree Awarding Institutions across the board. The salient features of these criteria are given

below:

1) Sixteen years of schooling or 4-year education after FA/FSc (130 credit hours) will be compulsory for

admission in MPhil/MS leading to PhD.

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2) A test equivalent to GRE test will be necessary for entry into any PhD programme i.e. before

admission in MPhil/MS leading to PhD.

3) Before moving into the PhD programme, candidates will have to complete 30 credit hours out of

which 24 credit hours will be reserved for course work, which may lead to the award of

MPhil/MS/Equivalent Degree.

4) The minimum CGPA should be 3.00 or First Division in MS / MPhil/Equivalent Degree for admission

into PhD.

5) In addition, the candidates must pass subject GRE (International) test for admission in PhD. In

disciplines where this test is not available, this test will be developed locally.

6) Additional PhD level course work of at least 18 credit hours followed by a Comprehensive

Examination along with thesis defense will be essential for the award of PhD degree.

7) PhD dissertation will be evaluated by at least two foreign experts approved by HEC.

8) Acceptance/Publication of at least one research paper in an HEC approved journal is essential for the

award of PhD degree.

The new Quality criteria will be implemented uniformly across all public and private sector Universities and

Higher Education Institutions from 15 September 2005. Full details of the criteria can be downloaded from

the HEC QAP website, and are also illustrated graphically in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Quality Criteria for PhD/MPhil Studies

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HEC National Accreditation Councils

A core part of the HEC QA Programme is the establishment of National Accreditation Councils. The first

draft proposal for the development of National Accreditation Councils in various disciplines has been

approved. In the initial phase (2005-2006), the National Computing Education Accreditation Council

(NCEAC) has been launched (during the first quarter of 2005) and this will be followed by the

establishment of three more Accreditation Councils in the disciplines of Education, Agriculture and

Business Education. These Accreditation Councils will develop internationally acceptable and industrially

viable set of criteria and standards for accrediting academic programmes in all public and private sector

Universities and DAIs across Pakistan. The Councils will also periodically evaluate, scrutinize, and monitor

the academic programmes' quality and standards followed in different degree awarding institutions and

their affiliated colleges.

The HEC QAA will periodically audit the HEC National Accreditation Councils along with the other external

Accreditation Councils/Bodies in order to ensure that the standards and criteria applied to accreditation

decisions are consistent across Pakistan, and more generally to facilitate the transparency and

comparability of the quality of the National Accreditation Council services.

University Ranking

As market competition in higher education becomes more common both within and across countries,

governments are increasingly adopting strategies of information provision as a means of assuring

academic quality. The rankings are sometimes heavily criticized: because of their statistical inaccuracy,

because of the measures and criteria chosen to represent academic quality, or because of their potentially

negative impact on the overall performance of Universities. But recent research has suggested that

ranking of universities has the potential to serve as effective instruments for public accountability.

Following the international trend in higher learning, the HEC QA Committee has worked with key

stakeholders to develop a set of internationally compatible criteria for ranking Pakistan's public and private

sector Universities/DAIs. The Committee has strived to ensure that the definitions of academic quality

used in the Ranking are globally consistent with other world-wide University Rankings.

Over the past year, the HEC has worked with the public and private sector Universities to collect, analyse

and verify the required data for ranking purposes (using the prescribed Survey Proforma). The final results

of the ranking of Universities will be uploaded on the HEC QAP website in due course.

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Guidelines for Self-Assessment of University Programmes

As part of the QAA project, the QA Committee has proposed draft “Guidelines for Self-Assessment of

University Programmes” for added consultation. These guidelines will be further developed by the QAA

through the organization of Seminars that will provide a forum for all stakeholders to share their views.

The final HEC QAA policy document on Self-Assessment of Higher Education Institutions (at both the

institutional level and at the Programme/Dept. level) will be published during the first phase of the QAA

project (2005-6).

QUALITY ASSURANCE: FUTURE PLANS

Quality Enhancement Framework

Under the strategic direction of the QA Committee, the QAA will work with key stakeholders in order to

develop and adopt a new comprehensive approach to quality termed the “Quality Enhancement

Framework” a new all-inclusive term to cover the various aspects of the new model. The proposed aspects

include:

1. Arranging and managing a system of rigorous external audits of the QA activities of HEIs and the

national accreditation councils/bodies.

2. Developing and supporting a programme of internal-reviews (or Self-Assessment) at the

Programme/Dept. level, to be run by the HE institutions themselves (through their QECs, which

are currently being established by the QAA).

3. Defining an agreed data set to improve public information on the quality of Higher Education in

Pakistan

4. The introduction of a national programme of developing and sharing good practice in learning and

teaching in higher education (quality enhancement themes).

It is intended that this new approach will include an enhanced focus on the student perspective in

institutional quality systems, and will be actively supported by the other relevant HEC QAP projects where

appropriate, such as the National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), Learning Innovation Department,

Research Support Programmes and the Pakistan Education and Research Network.

The proposed elements of the new framework will be further developed by the QAA in consultation with

various stakeholders and key aspects of the approach will be trialed and implemented at selected

Universities (through their QECs) during the first and second phases of the QAA project.

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Quality Enhancement Cells in HEIs

ndDuring the next financial year (2005-6), the HEC will initiate the 2 phase of the QAA project with the

establishment of 10 additional Quality Enhancement Cells in selected HEIs across Pakistan.

National Accreditation Councils

The HEC aims to establish a further six National Accreditation Councils in key disciplines of national

interest.

Departmental Ranking

Following the compilation of the University ranking, the QA Committee will continue to work with the

various stakeholders in order to develop a new set of internationally compatible criteria for ranking

individual Departments across all the public and private sector Universities/HEIs in Pakistan.

International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education:

A proposal for an International Conference on Quality Assurance in Higher Education 2006 (ICQAHE 2006)

has been approved by the QA Committee. The Conference is being organized jointly by the University of

the Punjab, Lahore, and the University of Management and Technology, Lahore, and will be held under the

patronage of the Prime Minister and the Governor of Punjab. The objective of the Conference is to enable

participants to interact with leading international experts on Quality Assurance and enhancement in order

to gain knowledge of the latest issues and practices in the field.

Faculty Tenure Track System: Finalization of Terms of Adoption

The HEC QAP organized a meeting with the Vice Chancellors of the Universities on May 5, 2005, in order

to further discuss and finalize the terms for adopting the Faculty Tenure Track System. The implementation

of the Tenure Track System is now in progress at most Universities in Pakistan. Further details are

available on the QAP website.

Eligibility Conditions for Appointment to various Academic posts in Public Sector Universities

A comprehensive paper on the subject issue was prepared by Executive Director of the HEC, which

thapproved by the Commission in its 6 Meeting. This document identifies the Minimum Eligibility Conditions

for appointment of a faculty member to a regular faculty post. However the Commission also recognised

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and encouraged universities to develop their own comprehensive criteria based on research contribution,

teaching effectiveness and service to the professional community of the faculty member. This document is

places in annex --- along with its attachments on criteria for various subjects.

ATTESTATION & ACCREDITATION

Establishment of Private Universities / Institutes

The government is putting its utmost efforts in keeping pace with the global technological reforms. The

public sector cannot cope with the ever increasing demand of the student community for higher education

without the support of private sector. In this regard, a concerted effort is being made by the government

to attract the private sector to come forward to cater for increasing demands of the student community,

and has adopted liberal policies to encourage the private sector to establish high quality

universities/institutions.

During the current year, 8 new universities/institutes in public and private sector were granted charter by

the Provincial Governments as under:

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

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The HEC has recommended the establishment of two new institutions in the Federal Territory of

Islamabad, as under:

1. Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad (public sector)

2. Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad (private sector)

In addition, twenty one (21) new proposals for establishment of universities/institutes have been received

are under various stages of processing.

Review of Private Universities

During the reporting period, draft 'Bills/Ordinances' of the Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad; OPF

Girls College, Islamabad; Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad; Karakorum International University,

Gilgit; King Edward Medical University, Lahore; University of South Asia, Lahore; and Beaconhouse

National University, Lahore have been vetted in the light of the provisions of Federal Universities Ordinance

(FUO), 2002 and comparative statement of variations in the draft 'Bill/Ordinance' accordingly been

communicated to the concerned quarters.

The HEC had requested Provincial Governments to associate their representative in the Provincial Charter

Recommendations Committee to monitor and check the proliferation of low-quality universities. The

Charter Inspection & Evaluation Committee, Education and Literacy Department of the Government of

Sindh and the Higher Education Regulatory Authority (HERA), Higher Education Department of the

Government of the NWFP have associated Adviser (QA&LI) HEC as a representative of their Committees.

On behalf of Adviser (QA&LI), D.G. (A&A) accompanied the members of HERA on inspections of Southern

Univesity, Bunnu and Edwardes College, Peshawar.

The third meeting of the Distance Education Committee constituted by the Higher Education Commission

for deliberating on the issues of virtual/online/distance learning universities in private sector and

recognition of their degrees was held on October 10, 2004. The Committee discussed the Guidelines for

Establishment and Initiation of Distance/Virtual/Online Learning Programmes in Institutions of Higher

Learning drafted by Registrar National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Islamabad and

finalized some recommendations to be used as parameters for initiations of distance/virtual mode of

education by the universities/institutions of higher education.

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Parent Alert on the Status of Private Universities

The HEC published multiple half-page advertisements in newspapers entitled 'Parents Alert', during 2004 in

an effort to show which universities were recognized by HEC and pinpointed those which were functioning

illegally and bent on defrauding the unknowing public.

The publication of this sensitive aspect of higher education in the national press provoked outrage in the

country, but for the first time in many years, and education authority showed courage in admitting that

these institutes were below standard and the Commission meant to rectify this serious issue.

The HEC issued a deadline to all institutions not meeting the basic quality criteria set by the Cabinet for

2007. Failure to comply with these standards will result in cancellation of the charters of these institutions,

and they will be relegated to the status of affiliated colleges.

Franchising of Foreign Institutions

The internationalization of higher education has brought university education to the forefront of

globalization. Many foreign universities are franchising local institutions to promote quality education. The

Commission has revised and is finalizing the Guidelines for Collaboration of Institutions of Higher

Education in Pakistan with Institutions Abroad. The sponsors of Thames Business School in Islamabad

have been allowed by the HEC to operate as an offshore study centre of the University of Southern

Queensland (Australia), to conduct BBA and MBA degree programmes initially for a period of three years

with effect from February 18, 2005.

The case of the College of Digital Sciences, Karachi has been recommended to the Education and Literacy

Department of the Government of Sindh, to offer Bsc (Hons) in Computing and Information Systems

through a collaborative arrangement with London Metropolitan University (UK).

Equivalence & Recognition of Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates

Details of the total cases for equivalence and recognition of degrees, diplomas and certificates received

during the period under report are as under:

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The total of foreign, local degrees and Deeni Asnad received for equivalence during the period can be

summarized as follows:

Received: 2482

Decided: 2315

Regretted: 167

Total Fee Received: Pak Rs 1,853,370/-

As per the decision of the Equivalence Committee of erstwhile UGC final sanad “Shahadatul Almiya Fil

Uloomal Arabia wal Islamia” awarded from recognized Wafaq, Tanzeem, Rabit-ul-Madaris and five

individual Madaris were recognized by the Higher Education Commission as equivalent to MA

Arabic/Islamic Studies for the purpose of teaching Arabic and Islamic Studies in colleges and universities

and for pursuing higher studies.

The names of the Waqaf/Tanzeem and Rabit-ul-Madaris are:

1. Waqaf-ul-Madaris Al-Arabia, Markazi Office Gordon Town, Sher Shah Road, Multan

2. Tanzeem-ul-Madaris Ahle Sunnat, Jamia Naeemia, Ghari Shaho, Lahore

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3. Wafaq-ul-Madaris, Al-Salfia, Hajiabad Post Code 38600, Faisalabad

4. Wafaq-ul-Madaris Shia, Jamia-al-Muntazar, H- Block, Model Town, Lahore

5. Rabita-ul-Madaris Al Islamia Mansoora Road, Lahore

The names of the five individual Madaris/Institutions are:

1. Jamia Islamia Minhaj-ul-Quran, 366 Model Town, Lahore

2. Jamia Taleemat-e-Islamia, Sargodha Road, Faisalabad

3. Jamia Ashrafia, Feroze Pur Road, Lahore

4. Darul Uloom Mohammadia Ghousia Bhera, District Sargodha

5. Darul Uloom, Korangi Creek, Karachi

For recognition of Final Sanad “Shahadatul Almiya Fil Uloomal Arabia wal Islamia” the holders are required to

have passed:

? Middle School Certificate 8-year study

? Shahadatul Sanvia Aama 2-year study

? Shahadatul Sanvia Khasa 2-year study

? Shahadatul Alia 2-year study

? Shahadatul Almiya 2-year study

Thus making total period of study as 16-year i.e., at par with the duration of study for Master's degree in

Arabic or Islamic Studies.

Attestation of Degrees

A Committee was constituted, headed by former judge of the Supreme Court to look into the issue of fake

degrees. Headed by Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, the Committee has been receiving complaints from institutions

as well as individuals on the issue and acting with due diligence. Such a step forward will insure that degrees

awarded by various universities are in conformity with their charters.

Presently the Attestation cell of HEC provides attestation and services on receipt of request. During the

financial period, the attestation cell attested 30077 educational documents and confiscated 129 fake degrees.

Enquires & Correspondence

Queries from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan Missions abroad and Embassies and for the

equivalence/attestation of degrees have been received and processed. The replies received from the

universities have also been communicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for onward transmission to the

concerned embassies/ foreign missions. An amount of Rs 4,983,000/- as charges have been deposited with

Finance Division of HEC.

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EXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIESEXTRAMURAL ACTIVITIES

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INTRODUCTION

In its role of supporting improvements in higher education in universities across the country, the Higher

Education Commission works on various extramural activities, which despite not having immediate

relevance to reform in education, help to significantly enrich the university experience.

These activities include facilitating the admission of foreign students into universities in Pakistan to

diversify the student population, promoting inter-provincial exchange of students through study visits and

other mechanisms, and promoting healthy forms of competition in through sports and activities such as

debating. The following chapter lists the achievements of the HEC in each of these areas during the year

under report.

Admission of Foreign Students in Pakistani Universities/Educational Institutions

In order to gain admission to a University in Pakistan, foreign students are required to make applications

to the Embassy/High Commission of Pakistan in their respective country, which are forwarded to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtains the clearance from all

relevant agencies and then forwards applications to the Ministry of Education if they are for the general

stream, and to Economic Affairs Division in case of professional institutions.

Cases of admission/placement of all foreign students are referred by the Ministry of Education to the

universities/educational institutions concerned, directly endorsing a copy of each admission case to HEC,

for further processing and pursuing their cases.

The University-wise detail of admission of 906 foreign students was facilitated by the HEC during the

period under review.

Foreign Student Scholarships

There are three kinds of scholarships which are awarded to foreign students by the Ministry of Education

through the HEC:

? Scholarships to students from other Countries.

? Scholarships to students from poor Muslim countries by Islamic Foundation for Science,

Technology and Development.

? Scholarships to Japanese students.

After signing agreements under Cultural Exchange Programmes with different countries, the Ministry of

Education issues award letter to foreign students. In this respect, the Ministry of Education places funds at

the disposal of HEC for disbursement to foreign students. The HEC releases the scholarship amount to the

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relevant students through the heads of the Institution where the students are studying.

During the period under report, the scholarships released to foreign students by the HEC are as under:

Scholarships released to Students from Japan and other countries

The Students' Convention 2005

The Students' Convention 2005 was organized by the Department of Learning Innovation and was

inaugurated by the Chairman HEC on April 7, 2005. Ninety-five students selected through a nation-wide

competition participated in three-day convention, and were selected through competitions held in the

provincial capitals. The theme of the convention was 'Jinnah's vision of a moderate Pakistan', 'National

Integration' and 'Learning to live together in a Global Community. The objective of the convention is to

promote cultural integration among students, provide a forum to share views, and promote harmony in

society by bringing students of diverse backgrounds together onto a single platform.

General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan presided over the concluding

session in which the President responded to all the questions of the participants in a very open and

articulate manner. Nine students was awarded shields, certificates and cash prizes.

A guest speaker at the Convention, Dr. Stanley Wolpert, Professor of History at the University of California

in Los Angeles and a distinguished author, paid rich tribute to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's

leadership qualities and urged the gathering to work towards the Quaid's vision of a moderate,

progressive Pakistan.

Inter-Provincial Exchange of Student Delegations

The subject programme was approved by DDWP in February, 2004 at a total cost of Pak Rs 19.743 million

over a period of two years with the aim of encouraging national integration and cohesion amongst youth

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studying at provincial and federal universities, through Inter Provincial Exchange of Student Delegations.

A group of 14 students, including male & female students, undertake an inter-provincial study tour, which

includes seminars, debating contests, games and extra curricular activities over a period of two weeks.

During the year 36 universities availed the programme, and were provided with funds as shown in the

table below:

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Student Sports

The importance of promoting sports in universities cannot be underplayed- research has consistently

shown distinct relationships with academic excellence and physical fitness. Sports, at provides for

competition and the achievement of excellence, motivates and enhances the well-being of students and

provides enjoyment and a medium for social communication and social integration. The HEC is

accomplishing its role in the promotion of sports through the Pakistan University Sports Board (PUSB),

which is represented by the Vice Chancellor of each university and headed by the Chairman HEC. This

august body makes all the policy decisions on university sports, which are then implemented by the HEC.

The Sports Division of the HEC works as a secretariat of PUSB, which is mainly to plan, coordinate and

organize sports activities for degree-level students and sports officials under the policy guidelines of the

Board. Accordingly the Sports Division of the HEC has been assigned the role to ensure that degree-level

students of the universities/colleges throughout the country get ample chances to show their mettle in

sports at college, university, national and world university levels.

All Pakistan University Games

The 2nd Annual All Pakistan Universities' Games were held at Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad in April 2005.

More than 4,500 athletes representing as many as 68 universities (compared to 3000 athletes from 56

universities in 2004) from across the country attended the events. This was the largest-ever sports

competition in terms of participation in the history of Pakistan. All organizational expenses of the Games

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were met by the HEC. The Games were deemed a success by athletes and spectators alike, and provided

a platform for students from all over the country to interact in a competitive, but amiable manner.

Intervarsity Championships

Intervarsity Championships were organized at different venues of the universities of Pakistan in 13 men's

and two women's disciplines of sport. The university teams participated at their own expense whilst the

organizational funds were provided by the HEC.

Intervarsity Zonal Competitions were organized at eight different 'zones' in the country as the preliminary

qualifying rounds of the 2nd Pakistan Universities Games. Five major events i.e., football, hockey, cricket,

volleyball and basketball were held, with the teams from various universities participating in their

respective zones. The two top teams from each zone qualified for the finals played during Second

Pakistan Universities Games.

In addition, the sports Division of the HEC, under the programme entitled 'Promotion of Sports in the

Universities of Pakistan' organized a series of provincial sports galas for universities across the country.

A further segment of the “Promotion of Sports in the Universities of Pakistan” regarding

Improvement/Development of Physical Facilities is under implementation. Funds amounting to

Pak Rs 2,500,000 were utilized to enhance sports facilities at the following universities: Karachi University;

Mehran University of Engineering and Technology; Balochistan University, Quetta; The University of

Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore; Gomal University, D I Khan; Bahauddin Zakariya University,

Multan; The University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi and Malakand University Chakdara, Dir.

The National Games

The National Games were held in Quetta from September 29, 2004 to October 5, 2004 under the aegis of

the Pakistan Olympic Association and arrangements of the Balochistan Olympic Association. Teams for

these games were selected through open selection trials, and remained under training prior to their

participation in the Games. Against the allocation of Rs 19,50,000/- a sum of Rs 9,72,732/- was spent.

Individuals from University teams participated in various disciplines of sport, with Male competitors

contesting badminton, boxing, gymnastics, squash, table tennis, weight lifting, wrestling, rowing, sailing,

rifle shooting, swimming and tennis, and female athletes participating in the badminton competition.

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National Level Championships

Teams from Pakistani universities, comprising of male and female members, participated in the various

National Level Championships held under the aegis of the National Sports Federation at separate venues.

Table: Detail of National Level Championships

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Participation in International Competitions

Boxing: The first ever World University Boxing Championship was held from 22-29 November, 2004 in

Anatalia, Turkey under the auspices of the International University Sports Federation (FISU). Two student

boxers represented Pakistan Universities in the competition, and were accompanied by Director Sports,

University of Peshawar. Expenditure incurred in this championship programme was Pak Rs 254,560/-

Badminton: The World University Badminton Championship (Male and Female) was held from 9-12 December,

2004 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Pakistan Universities Badminton team comprising of five male and six female

athletes, and three sports officials participated in the Championship. Although the team did not secure any

medal positions, they gained a great amount of experience of competing at the international level.

Coaching/Training Camps/Courses.

Various Coaching courses were held throughout the year. A two-month hockey camp for Pakistan university

team players was also organized for all Pakistan to prepare them for competition in the National Games and

National Championships.

Two training courses for the various Directors of Physical Education/Sports and Sports Officials working in the

Universities and Institutions of higher learning were organized at Khanaspur and the at Mehran University of

Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro. The success of both training programmes has resulted in similar

events being organized for the near future.

Inter-University Debate Contest for Award of Allama Iqbal Shield

On behalf of Ministry of Education, a regular “Inter- University Debate Contest” is organized by the HEC for

award of “The Allama Iqbal Shield” (Previously known as Prime Minister's Shield) annually in both English and

Urdu debates, separately.

The Debate Contest is organized in three phases. In the first phase, the contest is organized at each university

where students from affiliated/constituent colleges and university departments participate. Three prize

winners from each university are nominated to take part in the 2nd phase of the Debate Contest organized at

the Regional level, i.e. at provincial capitals of the country by the respective HEC Regional Centre. Cash prizes

are awarded to the first three winners on the level of both these phases. Prize winners of the Regional Debate

Contests, both in English and Urdu, are then nominated to participate in the final round at Inter-University

Debate Contest at national level organized by HEC at Islamabad.

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The final round of the 9th Debate Contest for the year 2005 was held at HEC Islamabad on 11th June, 2005.

The following students, who had qualified at Regional level contest, took part in this final round.

ENGLISH DEBATES

NWFP

Sindh

Punjab

Quetta

Federal Area

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URDU DEBATES

NWFP

Sindh

Punjab

Quetta

Federal Area

Following are the individual winners:

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Urdu Debate

thAllama Iqbal Shields for the 9 Debate Contest were won by the Lahore College for Women University, Lahore

in the English Debate and Foundation University, Islamabad in the Urdu Debate.

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Documents

Annual Report - HEC