Minister of State Engr Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman chaired the meeting of Higher Education Commission regarding the new developments in higher education. Agenda of the meeting included; scholarship programs, criteria for M.Phil and PhDs, facilities for the special students, Pakistan chairs abroad, collaboration with different countries regarding higher education, and over all achievements of HEC.
Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar briefed the minister of state regarding the scholarship programs monitored and facilitated by HEC. He said that around 2654 students have been sent on scholarships from 2009 till date through different agreed programs among countries and HEC. He added that there is no lapse of scholarship for the year of 2016. But there is always a room for improvement. Minister of State directed the chairman HEC to design a new website with the proposed name of "Learning Opportunities Abroad" which would be link to the websites of HEC and Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training. This new website would contain all the information starting from the scholarships available to the destination available for studies to the accreditations of foreign universities etc. it would give a comprehensive account to the Pakistani students about the opportunities available in the world. It would help the local students immensely as they would have easily accessible information at hand. Minister of State also directed the HEC to write letters to all the embassies here and asked them to provide the information regarding the scholarships available in their respective countries for international students.
Chairman HEC told the minister about the criteria of selection of PhDs, he said that they have recently conducted a study in which they have identified areas in which PhDs are required. For example textile, sports, logistic, transport and supply chain these are among the few areas which need experts. He also said that they have already started implementing that study in true letter and spirit. Talking about the facilities for the special students, Chairman HEC said that as per the direction of Minister of State HEC have drafted the shared it with all the universities.-PR