ISLAMABAD: Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUP) has welcomed the rejection of new undergraduate and PhD policies during Vice Chancellors Committee meeting concluded on Friday at Bhurban which was attended by vice chancellors both from public and private sector universities.

According to a press release, the meeting of Vice Chancellors Committee was organized by Higher Education Commission (HEC) in collaboration with British Council. Out of 180 participants, 178 rejected undergraduate and PhD policies which were introduced by Higher Education Commission last year.

APSUP, being representative of private sector universities, through its letter dated 14th December 2020, conveyed its reservations to senior management of HEC on new undergraduate and PhD policies.

Based on seven countrywide consultation sessions, which were attended by 190 vice chancellors, senior academics and experts, recommendations were also communicated to HEC.

The reservations expressed by the vice chancellors during the recent Vice Chancellors Committee are the same, which were communicated by APSUP ten months earlier. In stead of paying attention, unfortunately, all these important recommendations of the stakeholders were ignored by HEC.

The closed door policies, non-aligned with ground realities could not yield positive impact unless end-users and relevant stakeholders are not involved from policy formulation to implementation process.

It is quite misfortune that instead of reviewing and updating existing policies, after ten years, new policies are being introduced in higher education sector by the hired consultants without any proper consultation process, home work and provision of required resources & training.

APSUP also recommends that for making any policy in the future, HEC should trust and rely on higher education leadership and faculty of Pakistani universities, rather than relying on the services of consultants.