The COP28 (Conference of the Parties) held at UAE is marked as a crucial milestone in the global effort to address climate change. The global world acknowledged that the causes, effects and remedial measures for climate change must be addressed with respect to the context of individual country. To discuss the important decisions taken during COP28, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and German Red Cross (GRC) collaborated and invited the panel of experts and thought leaders to delve into the multifaceted outcomes and implications emerging from this significant event, and to discuss the pathways forward. The event was held on 28th December, 2023 at NUST was attended by a large number of participants from various provinces of Pakistan. Ms Sumiya Nauman, Manager Quality Assurance/Focal Person for Impact Rankings, NUMS was also invited to attend the event. The event was conducted inline with UN SDG-5 (Gender Equality), SDG-10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG- 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG-13 (Climate Action).

Pro-Rector RIC, Dr. Rizwan Riaz, welcomed the audience with his opening remarks urging the youth to actively put their energies towards climate action. After that, key note was addressed by Mr Sardar Shahid Ahmed Laghari from Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS). An interactive student led session on questions/opinions about various aspects of climate change were conducted by SDG Student Hub.

Following that session was a discussion by group of panelist who shared their insight regarding the Climate Action importance, their impact on women of Pakistan and how academia and society at large can contribute towards addressing these issues. The panel of experts included the following;

• Dr Imran Saqib Khalid, Director Governance and Policy WWF Pakistan
• Ms Anam Zeb, Project Coordinator CACRA German Red Cross (GRC), Pakistan
• Ms Maha Kamal, Energy and Gender Advisor, AFD Co-Chair, Women in Energy
• Ms Anam Rathore, Technical Advisor Climate Finance Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammeenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

The panel also discussed how the outcomes of COP28 can be leveraged for Pakistan’s benefit, significance of women/human peace and security to empower women in Pakistan through climate action by bringing their perspectives in such decision makings. An in-depth conversation surrounding climate justice engaged a vibrant audience of young students.

Ms Anam Zeb shared the summary of the negotiations that took place at COP28 through a very comprehensive presentation emphasizing the absence of decisive or accountable language in the final COP28 document. She also talked about the Paris Agreement and the global stock taking that took place against the terms in the treaty signed at COP28 in Dubai, making the audience of eager students understand the existing efforts of the world in the fight against climate change.

At the end of the session, Ms Ameera Adil, Assistant Director, Office of Sustainability thanked all the participants regarding their active participation in the session and urged the universities to work together to combat the challenges of climate change and role of women while addressing this challenge.

26^th Sustainable Development Conference under the title: "Light at the End of the Tunnel: Hope in Times of Despair", was held by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) from Nov 21-23, 2023. In the inaugural plenary session on Monday, 20 November, 2023 at Marriott Hotel, Islamabad, the honorable President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi, was Chief Guest along with Ms Mushaal Hussein Mullick, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Human Rights and Women Empowerment and audience from academia, civil society and industry were invited along with delegates from all over the world to discuss the way ahead on Pakistan’s current economy and find a way ahead.

Dr Erum Monis, DD QA, invited by SDPI to attend the inaugural session, represented NUMS in particular and academia in general.

Mr President, addressed the inaugural plenary of the conference and expressed his commitment towards the matter of sustainable development as an issue of great significance. He said that the world cannot achieve the goal of sustainable development and global peace amid dehumanizing of society through perpetuated conflicts around the globe, without women empowerment.

Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director SDPI, in his opening remarks, extended his gratitude to the President for his persistent support to the forum. He informed the audience that the delegates from some 19 countries would present their policy proposals at the forum whereas experts from Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, UK, US, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and others would be sharing their inputs during different sessions of the three-day conference.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Human Rights and Women Empowerment, Mushaal Hussein Mullick expressed her hope that the Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) will serve as a beacon of collaboration where diverse minds will unite to work out strategies for sustainable development in the future. She added that sustainable development and women rights are intertwined, and both can't be achieved sans empowering women, who comprise half of the world population. Ms Mullick said the women empowerment demanded equal opportunities and focus on dismantling all barriers impeding their way to success, which should be done through fostering partnerships as cornerstone of development agenda.

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) HEC, has embarked on a collaborative journey with QAA UK and engaged extensively with key stakeholders from a multitude of Pakistani universities to meticulously craft a robust Quality Assurance Framework for Higher Education. This comprehensive framework harmoniously blends internationally recognized QA standards with tailored, locally relevant solutions, with a core mission to foster continuous improvement and excellence in the higher education sector of Pakistan in the light of UN SDG-4.

HEC organized an introductory webinar on the Revamped Quality Assurance Framework for Higher Education on Wednesday, 8 November, 2023. The Revamped Quality Assurance Framework, “Pakistan Precepts, Standards and Guidelines (PSG-2023)”, signifies a monumental transformation in Pakistan's higher education domain. PSG-2023 systematically tackles deeply rooted QA issues through standardized processes, discouraging impromptu administrative appointments, and placing a robust emphasis on active stakeholder engagement.

Mr. Shoaib Irshad, Deputy Director Quality Assurance Agency HEC, opened the session with a welcome note to all the participants. He briefly shared the background and objective of PSG 2023 and drafting of PSG-2023 with the help and support of all the stakeholders including VCs, Deans, senior faculty members, education experts and QAA UK.

Mr. Pir Qasim Shah, Deputy Director Quality Assurance Agency HEC, presented the PSG-2023 and explained its parts like Review of Institutional Performance and Evaluation (RIPE), Reviewing Effectiveness of QA and Accreditation Bodies (REEQAB). Then, he shared the structure of the revised quality assurance framework, its outcomes and contribution to SDGs. He clarified that according to PSG-2023, there will be categorization of universities as per grades as a result of their data submission to HEC. Universities with low grades will bear serious penalties.

During Q & A session held at the end of session, he responded to all the queries of the participants. Also, he mentioned that PSG-2023 shared with the audience is in draft form and will be implemented after the feedback (link shared) and useful critical suggestions. He thanked all the participants for their interest and passion. NUMS was invited in the second group, as universities were divided group wise. The NUMS QA Dte team attended the webinar.

 Khawaja Fareed University of Science and Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, in collaboration with UI GreenMetric World University Ranking Indonesia, organized and hosted a national hybrid workshop on UI GreenMetric World Ranking 2023 with title "Empowering Green Leaders: UI GreenMetric Workshop for Sustainable Pathways in Pakistani Universities" on Monday, October 16, 2023. NUMS QA Dte staff and faculty members attended the session online. 273 participants from 248 universities from all over Pakistan participated in the hybrid (virtual/physical) national workshop.

Prof. Dr. Riri Fitri Sari, the Chairperson of the UI GreenMetric and Dr. Junaidi, both from Indonesia were the keynote speakers of the event. Prof. Dr. M. Suleman Tahir, Vice Chancellor of Khawaja Fareed University of Science and Technology, Rahim Yar Khan honored the session with his presence.

Prof. Dr. M. Suleman Tahir, Vice Chancellor of Khawaja Fareed University of Science and Technology, warmly welcomed all the participants of the hybrid national workshop. He shed light on the significance of UI GreenMetric and its mechanisms for fostering eco-friendly and green campuses within Pakistani Universities and its connection and importance in higher education and effect on community.

Prof. Dr. Riri Fitri Sari, shared the plan of UI GreenMetric World Ranking 2023 with the audience i.e., timeline for the submission of data, validation date and result date. She also briefed on the agenda of UI GreenMetric.

Dr. Junaidi, briefly explained about the mission, goal and history of the UI GreenMetric. He explained the parameters of the UI GreenMetric along with the methodology of working on it. There are 6 parameters for UI GreenMetric, which are as under:

1.   SI   = Setting and Infrastructure

2.   EC  = Energy and Climate Change

3.   WS = Waste

4.   WR = Water

5.    TR  = Transportation

6.   ED  = Education and Research

He mentioned the relation and interaction of SDGs with the UI GreenMetric and said that if any work or contribution related to SDGs is undertaken, it could also be considered for UI GreenMetric World Ranking. This is also a motivational factor for those universities, which are not registered till yet. He specifically pointed out that UI GreenMetric is working all over the world, so it is a bright chance for the Pakistani universities to get enrolled and share their contribution, as this platform will share their work with global society which can help in building a soft image of Pakistan at international level.

After the Q & A session, Dr. Muhammad Bilal Tahir, Director Quality Enhancement Cell, Khawaja Fareed University of Science and Technology, thanked all the participants for attending the workshop and providing qualitative feedback.

 Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) is implementing Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project under the agreement between World Bank and Government of Pakistan. The Component-2 of HEDP aims to improve the quality of teaching & learning in affiliated colleges and Postsecondary Education Reform Unit (PERU) was established by HEC to undertake the activities under this Component.

NUMS was invited by HEC with other 30+ selected universities, for an online consultative meeting for establishing QECAC units (QECs in Affiliated Colleges) on Sep 27, 2023, for NUMS has been identified for the establishment of QECACs units in its affiliated institutions for improving the quality of education being provided in affiliated colleges. Dy Director QA Dr Erum Monis represented NUMS on the invitation from HEC.

Mr. Muhammad Afzal, Consultant Capacity Building HEC, opened the session and welcomed all the participants. Prof Dr Mahmood Ul Hassan Butt, Project Coordinator (PC) HEDP-HEC, gave a brief introduction of the HEDP project (Affiliated Colleges/Institutes) and its impact on higher education in Pakistan. He explained that with around 226 universities of Pakistan, more than 4000 Affiliated Colleges/Institutes are affiliated but there is no mechanism to check quality of teaching in them. Therefore, HEDP has launched this project with the HEC’s Quality Assurance Agency(QAA) to reach out to the universities for implementation of this project. Dr Nasir Shah, Director General QAA HEC also briefed the participants on the new Quality Assurance (QA) Framework for HEIs of Pakistan (developed by QAA-HEC) and its focus on Affiliated Colleges / Institutions to bring the affiliated colleges/institutes in the quality net of HEC.

Mr Nasir Shah also highlighted the challenges for the affiliated colleges especially in public universities under provincial governments. He added that affiliated colleges are weaker links of the chain. Hence HEC has introduced ‘revised guidelines’ for affiliation of institutes and colleges in which, establishing of QECAC is mandatory in all affiliates of the HEIs. It was emphasized that affiliated institutes/colleges must be established and maintained on the same standards as the university. Following points of the session are worth mentioning:

a.       Appointment of focal person for QECAC (LQEC) under main QA/QEC Dte in the HEIs

b.       Upgrading of teaching standards (same as in university)

c.      The HEC’s Evaluation process should be followed at QECs and QEC ACs of the HEI

The main purpose of QECAC will be to bring the educational standards of affiliated colleges at par with the affiliating university in order to produce all rounded and skillful graduates so that they can apply their knowledge and acquired competencies to address societal problems.

Under this project HEC will provide funds for establishing QECAC units in affiliated colleges and seek funds utilization reports annually from affiliates. To build the capacity of all QECs, HEC will step wise engage all universities in training sessions on the subject of establishing their QECAC units.

The participants shared their views on the subject and ensured their full cooperation in implementing the National Project aimed at continuous quality improvement in higher education.

Meeting ended with a note of thanks by the Consultant Capacity Building HEC, Mr Muhammad Afzal, to all the participants for attending this meeting.

 A session on YPR expectations and Implementation was arranged by Higher Education Commission (HEC) online on July 20, 2023. The aim of the session was to discuss all the tools to be filled for the academic session 2022-23. The session was led by Mr. Shoaib Irshad, Deputy Director QAA, HEC, Islamabad

The HEC plays a vital role in overseeing and regulating Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Pakistan. As part of its commitment to ensuring academic quality and accountability, HEC has established guidelines and expectations for universities to submit yearly progress reports. These reports serve as a means of evaluating the overall performance, development, and compliance of universities with national educational standards. The relevant document provided by HEC outlines the yearly progress report expectations and implementation guidelines set forth by HEC for the universities as per following areas.

• Institutional Overview
• Academic Programs
• Research and Innovation
• Quality Assurance
• Student Support Services
• Community Engagement

HEC expects universities to submit their yearly progress reports by a predetermined deadline each year. The deadline for this year was announced to be August 15, 2023. In the training checklist for filling YPR and templates were shared with QEC representatives. NUMS QA Representatives led by Consultant QA, Air Cdre Muhammad Ismail, (Retd), Deputy Director QA, Dr. Erum Monis, and other team members attended the meeting for strict compliance of HEC requirements.

 Online sessions on revised HEC Graduate Policy 2023 are being organized by Quality Assurance Division (QAD), Higher Education Commission (HEC) region wise. On August 30, 2023, NUMS was invited by the HEC’s (QAD) to join the first information session. It was attended by Quality Assurance, Academics, Deans/HoDs and faculty members of NUMS on QA’s invitation. Presentation delivered by HEC was shared by QA Dte with all relevant staff at NUMS as well for future reference.

The focus of the session was the revised graduate education policy (GEP) – 2023, its key aspects, its significance and comparison with previous graduate education policies of HEC. The speaker Dr. Abaidullah Anwar, policy expert from HEC, explained how implementing this revised policy can help universities achieve academic excellence.

GEP-2023 encompasses all the minimum standards and guidelines to impact Level 7 and 8 qualifications, with a special emphasis on governance of the doctoral research system in HEIs and quality assurance. Accordingly, the revised policy, while addressing the concerns of the stakeholders regarding admission and Credit Hours requirements, also embarks on various aspects of quality dissertation along with research ethics, the roles and responsibilities of research supervisors and supervisees, and the conditions regulating their relationship and the handling of grievances.

Further, the new policy, while approaching university autonomy within the ambit of their charters/acts, seeks to strike the right balance between autonomy and regulatory constraints. Hence, the requirement of obtaining NOC for the launch of a new graduate program has been relaxed for the top HEIs, ranked through system as may be prescribed, while the lower ranked HEIs must seek HEC’s NOC. However, these HEIs can exercise their autonomy in determining faculty relevance at their end by adopting the mechanism prescribed in the policy. Lastly, this policy also suggests retributive actions for the HEIs violating the provisions that it prescribes.

Overall, the policy has three parts:

1. Minimum Standards and Guidelines for launching a Program and awarding degrees
2. Governance of Doctoral Research System, and
3. Quality Assurance

The guiding principles of the policy are as follows:

1. University Autonomy: Within the ambit of their Charter / Act and HEC’s policies
2. Access: All qualified individuals with equal opportunity
3. Relevance: Local needs and national policies
4. Alignment: The outcomes defined in National Qualification Framework and graduate Education Policy
5. Contextualizing: Without compromising over the global standards
6. Academic Freedom: Thoughts and conceiving ideas
7. Originality: Thoughts leading to innovation by adhering to academic ethics.
8. Academic Flexibility: Conducting research activities without violating disciplinary guidelines
9. Collaboration, Networking and Partnerships: At the local, national and international levels for the development and execution of graduate programs
10. Quality: Promoting high standards of academic and research excellence and student success

 Higher Education Data Repository (HEDR) division has devised a ranking proforma 2023, based on approved university ranking criteria, for collecting data from HEIs. The HEC National University Ranking-2023 would be based on the data of 2020-21 (1st July 2020 to 30th June 2021). The universities which have completed at least 5 years on June 30, 2021, from their date of grant of NOC, are eligible to participate in Rankings-2023

Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, invited 124 universities, earlier this year to provide feedback on university ranking criteria. The university ranking criteria has now been finalized keeping in view the feedback received from Higher Education Institutes (HEIs), national and international experts.

To enable universities to feed accurate ranking data into HEC’s HEDR Portal, it was considered indispensable to train nominated focal persons, in order to complete the uphill task. Consequently, a training session was arranged by HEC on July 19, 2023 in the smart Room of HRD building.  Dr Erum Monis, Deputy Director, Quality Assurance and Ms Tabish Rehman, Assistant Director Registration Dept were nominated as focal persons to attend the training session.

Following are the salient points of the training: -

a. Once the HEDR portal is opened for ranking process, by the end of August 2023, the assigned focal persons will submit data of the Fiscal year 2020-21, on the portal, with the approval of the Vice Chancellor, only.

b.  The ranking proforma- 2023 can be accessed via link: www.hec.gov.pk/statistiss

c.  The HEC ranking uses five criteria, all of which have specific weightings and are summed to give an aggregate score out of 100. Institutional rankings are determined based on this aggregate score. Each criterion and its weighting is dependent upon a set of sub-components. The five criteria and sub-components are summarized below:

1. Quality Assurance
2. Teaching and Learning Environment
3. Research
4. Finance and Facilities
5. Social Integration and Community Development

d.  Participants of the Training were given hands-on practice for data collection, retrieval from own databases of HEIs and attachments of required evidences on the online portal directly.

Chairman HEC Mr Mukhtar Ahmed visited the training venue and motivated the HEI focal persons to take this activity as an opportunity for self-reflection, correction and continuous quality improvement.

 The Higher Education Commission(HEC) has conducted a series of productive and interactive orientation sessions from March 30 to April 14, 2023 with the designated focal persons of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and Quality Enhancement Cells (QECs) of Universities from all over Pakistan to update Higher Education Data Repository (HEDR), Pakistan Qualification Register (PQR) and PhD Country Directory (PCD).

Deadline for submission of corrected data was April 15, 2023. Separate training sessions through Microsoft Teams, were conducted with relevant focal persons. These sessions were inaugurated by the Director General HEDR Mr. Ghulam Nabi who appreciated the participation from almost all Pakistan Universities. In order to motivate focal persons to complete uphill tasks, he announced an appreciation scheme for the first 20 universities which had submitted their data on time.

Abdullah Fayyaz Chattha, Director IT Division, HEC and lead coordinator HEDR, provided orientation on the PQR system, and it was noted that manual entry in the Excel sheet Proforma would not be accepted. Therefore, the universities need to follow the guidelines in the hands-on tutorial guide.

The HEDR in charge also informed that the focal persons could access the system independently and fill in the Proforma. The participants were encouraged to share their queries through the HEDR collaboration room to receive the answers. Overall, the sessions were well-organized and informative. He said providing a license to nominated participants was a good initiative which would enable them access the system whenever needed.

Ms Tabish Rehman, Assistant Director, Registration is focal person for HES from NUMS, while Mr Tahir Altaf, Deputy Controller, Examinations, is looking after the PCD.

 NUMS Focal Person for PQR for six years, Dr Erum Monis, Deputy Director Quality Assurance attended all relevant sessions online and contributed by sharing valuable suggestions with HEDR Teams to update the system and help new PQR focal persons of new universities.

A seminar on the “Role of University in achieving Quality Based Ranking" was organized by Directorate of Quality Enhancement Pir Mehr Ali Shah(PMAS) Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi on February 15, 2023 while NUMS was represented by Consultant Quality Assurance, Air Cdre Muhammad Ismail, SI (M), (Retd) and Deputy Director Quality Assurance, Dr Erum Monis.

Quality-based rankings are designed to evaluate and rank universities based on various criteria, such as research output, teaching quality, internationalization, and reputation.  Prof. Dr. Qamar-Uz-Zaman Vice Chancellor PMAS-Arid Agriculture University was the chief guest on the occasion.

Dr. Farrukh Idrees Director QEC, National Defense University, Islamabad was the keynote speaker at the seminar. He gave a presentation on ranking methodology of Times Higher Education, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Universities Rankings, QS Asia Rankings, Universitas Indonesia (UI) Green Metric World University Ranking and Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. He elaborated the role of Institutional Performance Evaluation and Postgraduate Program Review in improving the quality of education and research.