ISLAMABAD: The Steering Committee of Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project on Saturday reviewed the use of new technology initiatives including state of the art Learning Management System to help improve the quality of online learning and make it accessible even in the remote areas of country.

The third Steering Committee (SC) meeting was held here at the office of Higher Education Commission (HEC) which was presided over by the Executive Director HEC,

Dr. Shaista Sohail, and also attended by key SC members from all provinces.

The committee was consisted of senior officials from key federal ministries and provincial departments of higher education, Vice Chancellors of universities from across Pakistan, and industrial representative.

HEDP is a five-year project (2019/20 – 2023/24) being implemented by HEC to expand its key higher education priorities. It aimed to support research excellence in strategic sectors of the economy, improve teaching and learning, and strengthen governance in higher education, said a news release issued here.

The project comprises of five key components including improving and expanding research grants, roll out of the new undergraduate education policy, extending Pakistan Education & Research Network (PERN) to universities and affiliated colleges, Higher Education Management Information Systems and Data Repository, and establishment/strengthening of National Academy of Higher Education – NAHE.

Project Coordinator, Ms. Maryam Riaz gave an overview of the project, its restructuring and future plans.

The restructuring focuses on the changes necessary due to the circumstances higher education faces due to COVID 19. Extensive use of latest technology in higher education is a key element of restructuring. The new technology initiatives included state of the art Learning Management System to help improve the quality of online learning and make it accessible even in the remote areas of Pakistan.

Blockchain technology would be implemented to ease the process of degree verification and attention thus saving the students money and time it takes to get degrees attested, she added.

It would help address and eradicate the issue of fake degrees. Latest Enterprise Resource Planning system including Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence would be deployed at HEC to improve the efficiencies of the organization.

A central data warehouse linked to a powerful Business Intelligence platform would provide reports and insights to senior decision makers in higher education thus supporting evidence based policy and planning.