Caretaker Federal Minister for Education Briefed on Higher Education Sector of Sindh Region
Karachi: A meeting of the Vice Chancellors of the Sindh region was hosted by Higher Education Commission (HEC) at its Regional Centre in Karachi on Thursday. Caretaker Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Mr. Madad Ali Sindhi was chief guest on the occasion.
Chairman HEC Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed also attended the meeting, which was aimed at fostering collaborative efforts towards advancing the quality of higher education in the higher learning institutions of Sindh region.
The meeting provided an opportunity to collectively explore strategies and initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality of education across higher education sector of the region.
An overview of the funding allocations granted to Sindh universities was also shared. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed briefed the Minister how transparency is ensured by HEC to disburse funds among HEIs as well as provided a comprehensive overview of the financial support provided for various academic endeavours.
The meeting also reviewed the accomplishments of Sindh’s public sector universities in relation to the targets set by HEC. The participants also highlighted the challenges faced by public sector universities in Sindh.
Speaking on the occasion, the Federal Minister assured all possible support of the Government for development of higher education sector in the Sindh province. He appreciated the efforts of HEC and the universities for promotion of quality higher education during the last two decades.
On this occasion, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed said that more than four thousand educational institutions are affiliated with the universities. The quality of education in these affiliated educational institutions needs to be improved. For this, the universities must make their monitoring system systematic and rational. In this regard, we all need to work together to bring the quality of education and research in line with international standards, he added.
The Vice Chancellors of the Sindh region recommended the enhancement of research grants, providing opportunities for training and development for faculty, increasing manpower in educational institutes, opening up avenues for public-private partnerships, and ensuring industry-academia linkages.