The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has granted charters to 13 new universities over the past two years, with the majority opened in areas where higher education opportunities were previously unavailable.
The Commission has supported the establishment of new universities to spread higher education to all areas of Pakistan, says a report which outlines the two-year key achievements (July 2004 to June 2006) of the Commission.
The report said that additional residential facilities, particularly catering to female students, had also been constructed at universities across the country to remove access barriers for students from remote areas.
During the past two years, the Commission has undertaken a systematic process of implementation of the five-year agenda for reform outlined in the HEC's Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF), in which access, quality and relevance have been identified the key challenges.
Over 2,000 scholarships have been awarded during the period under the indigenous PhD programme, undertaking measures at each step of the process to ensure that international standards of quality are not compromised.
The implementation of Indigenous PhD programme has led to a dramatic increase in the number of students engaged in PhD programs over the previous year. This crucial performance indicator has risen by 56 percent, whilst ensuring international standards of quality are maintained at every stage. Increased PhD enrolment has been supported by increased funding for research and investments in facilities and equipment.