HEC, British Council sign agreement for higher education

An agreement on internationalising higher education partnership between the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) and the British Council Pakistan was inked here at HEC, Islamabad.
Prof Dr Nasser Ali Khan, HEC Acting Executive Director and Dr Nils Tomes, Director Education, Wider South Asia British Council, British High Commission, Islamabad-Pakistan signed the agreement on the behalf of their respective organisations, says a press release issued here.
Through this agreement, both the organisations have agreed to undertake and strengthen the existing cooperation in the field of higher education and research covering the major areas including knowledge exchange programme, leadership programme, policy dialogue and transforming English language skills.
The agreement further stated that an Institute of Leadership called National Institute of Leadership in Education (NILE) will also be established in Pakistan.
This unique and comprehensive institute will conduct graduate programs, professional development courses/workshops and will also strengthen inter-institutional research.
According to the agreement, British Council will provide technical support from UK leadership sector in this programme and the HEC will support in the establishment of the institute, which would be looked after by a consortium of three universities from Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi.
It was agreed that through initiation of global policy dialogues, the British Council and HEC will connect people together to debate the challenges and opportunities being faced in international higher education.
These national policy dialogues will be organised in the Pakistan focusing issues around research performance, assessment framework and exploring further opportunities for mutual cooperation between the two countries.
These dialogues will be attended by policy makers, university leaders and heads of research organizations in Pakistan and the UK.