Daily Times

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has revised Graduate Education Policy 2023 (GEP-2023) with an aim to improve quality of education at graduation level being provided by universities and degree awarding institutions across the country.

According to the available information, the new policy will be effective and applicable from semester Fall-2023 onwards. The commission had also revised this policy a few years back when Dr Tariq Banuri was its chairman. However, according to incumbent HEC chief Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, it needed some more improvements in par with modern era of technology development.

“Although, all these efforts were changemakers, there has always been room for development so we exercised new changes as per modern age demands,” Dr Ahmed told Daily Times.

He said that as soon as he assumed change as chairman, quickly took up this matter as it was key to improve the quality of education.

The chairman narrated that previously some sections had raised objections that they are not taken on board while devising new graduation policy. “This time, the drafted policy has been sent to all relevant stakeholders to seek their input and they are included respectively,” he recalled, adding that nobody or segment can object after now while implementing this policy. He said that after passing through all these formalities, the Commission has approved the policy for implementing it from fall-2023. The Commission is a competent body in the HEC to make all such strategic decisions.

According to the HEC, drawing upon the Commission’s extensive two-decade experience and feedback from academia, the new policy has been meticulously crafted to embody the core principles of university autonomy, flexibility, and quality assurance, while also upholding academic freedom, relevance, and originality.

According to the GEP-2023, it allows for intra-disciplinary admissions, enabling students to explore diverse academic fields within their chosen discipline. The policy recognises the value of both local and foreign expertise by introducing external evaluation conducted by indigenous Professors alongside foreign evaluators. This inclusive approach aims to ensure a comprehensive assessment of academic standards.

Furthermore, the policy demonstrates its flexibility by introducing relaxation to the CGPA requirements for admission and offering a more dynamic assessment of the time duration for degree completion. It also streamlines the process for determining faculty relevance, and the requirements for HEC’s NOC (No Objection Certificate) and approval to become a doctoral supervisor. The policy provides clear guidelines and suggests mechanisms to strengthen the implementation of these principles at the institutional level, ensuring consistency and transparency.

GEP-2023 recognises the significance of a rigorous and comprehensive degree obtaining process. It introduces detailed guidelines for conducting comprehensive examinations, writing doctoral dissertations, and interpreting similarity reports. These guidelines are designed to enhance academic standards, foster originality, and maintain the integrity and ethics of research and study within higher education institutions.

A key aspect of the new policy is its emphasis on doctoral research governance. It delineates the roles and responsibilities of supervisors, supervisees, and the departments overseeing advanced studies and research. By doing so, it aims to cultivate a culture of academic integrity and ethics while effectively managing academic grievances that may arise during the research process.