HEC forms 22-member task force to develop national university rankings
The Higher Education Commission has formed a 22-member National Task Force to develop a national university rankings framework. The framework is meant to assess university performance in a transparent and credible way.
- HEC has formed a 22-member National Task Force on National University Rankings.
- The task force will review and finalise the proposed national rankings framework.
- Dr. Ghulam Mustafa is Convenor and Muhammad Ali Baig is Secretary.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has constituted a 22-member National Task Force on National University Rankings. Its job is to develop the National University Rankings Framework of Pakistan, according to Associated Press of Pakistan.
The framework is aimed at establishing a credible, transparent and nationally relevant system for assessing how universities perform. The task force has been asked to review and finalise the proposed national rankings framework.
In its work, the task force will draw on internationally recognised university ranking methodologies while taking into account Pakistan's higher education landscape. It will examine ranking indicators and their relative weightages, assessment methodologies, data requirements, verification procedures and scoring mechanisms.
Dr. Ghulam Mustafa, Director of the Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences in Islamabad, has been appointed Convenor. Muhammad Ali Baig, National Coordinator for National University Rankings and Deputy Director of the Higher Education Data Repository at HEC, will serve as Secretary.
Members include representatives of Aga Khan University, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Khyber Medical University, King Edward Medical University, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, and National College of Arts. Others come from the National University of Sciences & Technology, Quaid-i-Azam University, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, University of Balochistan, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, University of Karachi, University of Peshawar and University of the Punjab.
The task force also includes representatives of the Higher Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Punjab Higher Education Commission and the Sindh Higher Education Commission. The composition is intended to ensure geographical, institutional and disciplinary representation.
Why it matters
A national ranking framework would set out how Pakistani universities are assessed, which bears on students and families choosing where to study. Universities across provinces, including medical, engineering, arts and agriculture institutions, are represented in the group designing the indicators. The indicators, weightages and verification procedures it settles on will shape how institutions are judged.
