The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has halted 55 PhD degrees and 69 MPhil/MS equivalent programmes run by University of the Punjab and advised the management to immediately stop admissions in these programmes.
The HEC has taken this decision in the light of recommendations and findings of the six-member quality assurance agency team which visited the university on January 22-23, 2019 under the supervision of Dr Adnan Sarwar Khan to review university's PhD and MPhil/MS equivalent programmes.
According to the report, the copy of which available with Business Recorder, 2,090 students were registered in 55 PhD programmes while the number of PhD qualified faculty is 488. There were 5,598 students registered in 69 MPhil/MS equivalent programmes while MPhil/MS equivalent faculty is 249.
According to the report, HEC has immediately asked to halt the PhD degree programmes of college of art and design, gender studies, center for high energy physics, home economics, philosophy and polymer technology while HEC has asked to immediately stop the admissions in Applied Hydrology, Applied Psychology, Arabic, Economics, Education, Entomology, Food Sciences and Technology, Geometrics, Horticulture, International Relations, Islamic Studies (Sheikh Zaid Islamic Studies), Pakistan Studies, Persian, Plant Pathology, Political Science, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology, Statistics, Urdu and Zoology.
The MPhil/MS Equivalent programmes halted by HEC includes Art and Design, Center for High Energy Physics, Gender Studies, Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing, Home Economics and Polymer Technology while advised the management to immediately stop the admissions in Applied Hydrology, Chemistry, Education, Policy Development, Entomology, Environmental Sciences, Food Sciences and Technology, Geometrics, Health and Administration, History, Horticulture, Human Resource Management, International Relations, Molecular Biology, Pakistan Studies, Plant Pathology, Political Science, Public Administration, Public Health, Social Work, Sociology, Speech Language Pathology, Statistics and Total Quality Management.
The report said that according to the rules of HEC there is a requirement of appointing three (03) full time relevant PhD faculty for launching a PhD program and two (02) full time relevant PhD holder for launching an MPhil/MS/equivalent program, which should be followed. The minimum criteria as prescribed by the HEC must be followed and maintained. Till satisfying the minimum criteria of launching the MPhil/MS and PhD program, all such programs should be halted with immediate effect.
Sources in the HEC said that other than University of the Punjab majority of the Ph D and MPhil programs of Bahuddin Zakaria University and Islamia University Bahwalpur were halted. HEC will not attest the degree of the programs run in violation of the rules.
According to the findings of the report it was found that the documentation required for the program review visit was poorly managed. Even after repeated calls, the required data was not provided from different departments. It was noted by the committee that students were being supervised by the supervisor from other departments, having different specializations. For example, there is only one PhD faculty employed in the programs of MPhil/PhD Gender Studies while a large number of MPhil/PhD students are under the supervision of the faculty of other departments. Also, the students of MBIT are being supervised by supervisors of other universities. Courses and codes as approved by the Academic Council and actually taught at MPhil level programs are not consistent, as in the case of MPhil Coal Technology etc.
It was also pointed out by the committee that the student-teacher ratio in many programs is not followed as per the limit prescribed by the Higher Education Commission. For example, Dr Farah Malik is supervising 8 students of PhD Applied Psychology. Also, there is a large number of enrolment in the many programs such as Sociology, Education, Chemistry, Islamic Studies, Social Work having dearth of PhD faculty.
The report also points out that the minimum and maximum duration of graduate level programs as per the HEC guidelines is not followed in many programs. During the interaction with the students, the committee also noted that students have to wait for a long while for allocation of supervisor after completion of their coursework. Moreover, the students have to wait for long for their dissertation defense after submission of their theses.
It was observed by the committee that as per the graduate regulations of the University, after the completion of coursework, the PhD students must have to appear in the comprehensive examination within one month. However, this is not followed as observed in most of the cases.
The report further points out that there is lack of inter-departmental coordination, due to which the academic and research resources (i.e., equipment/consumables) are not being used when needed by the students of different departments.
The report points out that revision in curricula of various programs has not been found taking place regularly, as in the case of MPhil Botany etc the NOCs from the QAD-HEC have not yet been obtained for the programs launched after 7th November 2013 such as PhD Polymer Technology, MS GIS/RS to name a few. Surprisingly, the MS GIS/RS program was started in the absence of PhD faculty. The committee observed that as per student and teacher feedback obtained during the review visit, the review committee noted that the students were not fully aware of the use and benefit of the HEC digital library.
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