In its bid to enhance the visibility of higher education institutions of Punjab on the global ranking radars – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE)- Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) has come up with a comprehensive strategy, focusing specifically on indicators of the two ranking systems. This was briefed by the Director General (Quality Assurance & Accreditation) Ms. Zia Batool during a meeting on capacity building of universities for improved international rankings. The meeting which took place at PHEC Secretariat Lahore was co-chaired by Minister for Higher Education, Raja Yassir Hamayun Sarfraz and acting Chairperson PHEC & Secretary HED, Govt. of Punjab Momin Ali Agha and was attended by DG PHEC Ms. Zia Batool, representatives from 08 universities including Vice Chancellors, Directors ORIC/QEC, and Senior Officers of HED & PHEC.
Giving the detailed briefing on the proposal to bring the local universities at par with international quality benchmarks, Ms. Zia Batool said that strategy would be executed phase-wise: in the initial phase, PHEC, on the basis of previous ranking reflections, discipline diversity, and geographical proximity, had identified 9 universities- 8 public and 1 private- including University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore, University of the Punjab Lahore, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Govt. College University Lahore, University of Sargodha, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, Lahore College for Women University Lahore, Baha Uddin Zakariya University Multan, and University of Lahore. PHEC, along with HED, would facilitate the select universities to collaborate with the leading global ranking agencies including QS and THE to work on ranking indicators that are relevant to the higher education sector in Asia. A follow-up mechanism would be opted to evaluate the progress on these indicators and would suggest qualitative improvements to select universities.