Islamabad, : Building upon the success of its mentoring efforts for academia, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan has launched Mentoring Program for Universities (MPU) to train leadership and faculty of higher education institutions across the country.
Initiated through the National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), the program is an expanded version of HEC’s Women Empowerment and Mentoring Program launched back in November 2024 for 18 women universities.
The Mentoring Program for Universities is a nationwide initiative aimed at strengthening leadership capacity and professional development within the higher education institutions (HEIs). It is a gender-inclusive program designed to support faculty members and academic leaders from both public and private sector universities. The program seeks to foster a culture of mentorship, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across the higher education landscape of Pakistan.
Chairman HEC Engr. Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar (S.I) graced the launch ceremony, held at HEC Secretariat, with his presence alongside the members of HEC’s senior management committee. Vice Chancellors of all the universities also joined the event virtually.
Chairman HEC termed mentoring of academic leadership and faculty a crucial part of institutional development. Highlighting the significance of readiness for mentorship, he underlined that the country’s academia has no dearth of learned figures with high capability to deliver in this specific area. The program, he asserted, will help exploit the expertise of such senior academicians.
Dr. Niaz appreciated NAHE for the success of Women Empowerment and Mentoring Program and expanding the scope of this initiative to all the universities. “This was very much needed, and it was high time to further extend the program,” he asserted.
Speaking on this occasion, Managing Director NAHE Dr. Noor Amna Malik shed light on the program’s background. She underlined the achievements of Women Empowerment and Mentoring Program. “The initiative garnered huge success and repute, paving the way for its expansion to all the universities across the country,” she affirmed. She maintained that as many as 890 mentors and mentees were produced through the Women Empowerment and Mentoring Program. “The initiative proved to be a support system within our own ecosystem, as it has been institutionalised and internalised where people assist and uplift one another,” she emphasised.
Dr. Malik underscored that the Mentoring Program for Universities will help remove the interpersonal and psychological barriers facing the academic leadership and faculty. She said the program will provide guidance to its beneficiaries to deal with challenges in the institutions, develop leadership capacities, and enhance ability to contribute to their own growth alongside the growth and transformation of their respective academic institutions. She added that the initiative will support emerging leaders in higher education sector by maximising their potential, developing their skills and enhancing their performance. Dilating on the program modules, she said that NAHE has kept an open window for the universities to include need-based areas to solve their respective problems.
Vice Chancellor Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) Dr. Uzma Quraishi expressed her views on the impact of the Women Empowerment and Mentoring Program. She said the program established the need for mentorship in a professional setup, as it focused on personal and professional growth regardless of gender. She informed the audience that the program produced 240 mentors in three cohorts at LCWU who are now cascading their learning and making a difference. She revealed that the initiative enables universities to include new modules in line with their own needs. She asserted that the initiative has great potential to transform the entire academic ecosystem by empowering the academicians and learners.
