Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has decided to get rid of the two year degree programs.
The HEC issued an official letter; Higher Education Commission has informed all educational institutes about its decision of not supporting the two year degree programs. The letter clearly states that HEC will not allow any admissions by educational institutes to admit students in two years Bachelor’s degree programs. Similarly, HEC will not allow educational institutes to admit students in two-year Master’s degree after 2020.
This means that educational institutes cannot admit students for B.A, B.SC, M.A, M.Sc, Ms, or M.Phil for two year programs. HEC believes that Universities are using the two-year programs to award degrees for four-years, creating confusions for local as well as international employers.
Committee Formed to Sort Two Year Degree Issues
HEC has said in its letter that it formed a committee of experts to discuss the mechanism of phasing out BA and B.Sc programs. The committee will work on ways to accommodate students who have done four year BA and B.Sc programs.
The committee has proposed a bridging semester for helping students cover their academic deficiency once they are in their 5th semester.
HEC has clearly stated that it wants all educational institutes to comply with its recommendations. When asked if imposing a four-year program will create hurdles for students who cannot afford it, the HEC official said that these steps were taken to help improve the education system.
Here are some of the bold steps HEC wants to take to improve the quality of education in Pakistan.
- To phase out the 1 and 2-year Bachelor’s degree programs in all universities by 2018 and replace them with four-year programs.
- Ensure all educational institutes follow 2+2 year degree programs in all four year programs while encouraging internships and field work.
- Introduce two-year Associate Degree Programs for professionals and vocational trainees.
- The establishment of Quality Enhancement Cells for Reporting quality enhancement measures taken through frequent academic audits of curricula taught.
- To ensure continuous revision of the curricula taught to the students. HEC wants curricula revised by leading scholars within the universities. To ensure universities use PERN to refine curricula and share with NCRCs continuously.
- To make sure educational institutes are offering low-cost split-degree programs in collaboration with top universities by using global tuition exchange programs.
- HEC wants public universities to offer faculty sabbatical exchanges for undertaking teaching and collaborative research within STEM studies.
- Lastly, HEC wants to ensure introduction of academic programs to have mandatory supervised research and practical training programs offered to promote critical thinking and problem-solving.
