Islamabad : Federal Secretary, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Mr. Nadeem Mahbub visited the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Secretariat and praised HEC’s commitment to transforming the higher education landscape.
The Secretary was briefed on the state and progress of higher education in Pakistan by Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed. Executive Director HEC Dr. Zia Ul-Qayyum and senior HEC officials were also present during the session.
Mr. Mahbub acknowledged HEC’s ‘wide canvas’ of initiatives aimed at uplifting the sector and took keen interest in different programmes successfully executed by HEC in different spheres of the higher education sector.
During the detailed briefing, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed provided an overview of HEC’s key functions, initiatives, and achievements and highlighted the Commission’s focus on financing, regulation, and capacity-building as core tools driving systemic growth and innovation. Areas of notable progress included academic quality, faculty development, technological integration, student access, and financial sustainability of institutions.
Dr. Ahmed explained that there are 160 public and 111 private higher education institutions having 91 & 51 campuses respectively. He also shared that access to tertiary education has increased significantly, with gender parity reflected in a student composition of 53% male and 47% female students.
The Chairman highlighted the exponential growth in PhD holders, and the rise in high-impact research publications. He said that HEC’s scholarship portfolio has also expanded substantially, with approximately 400,000 scholarships awarded so far across undergraduate, postgraduate, and postdoctoral levels.
Dr. Mukhtar elaborated on HEC’s regulatory responsibilities and the suite of policies currently in place to uphold academic standards, such as the Graduate and Undergraduate Education Policies, Open and Distance Learning Policy, Transnational Education Policy, and the National Qualifications Framework. He also discussed funding mechanisms and briefed the Secretary on budgetary requirements for FY 2025-26.
The Chairman also informed the Secretary about the progress made on universities standing in world rankings, execution of Institutional Performance Audit Framework and the deliverables of various HEC initiatives such as National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), Education Testing Council (ETC), Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP), and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Consortium of Universities. In addition, he also elaborated on HEC’s research grant programmes while highlighting the achievements marked under National Research Programme for Universities (NRPU), Grand Challenge and Local Challenge Funds, and Investor Seed Fund, etc.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
