HEC chairman stresses protection of students’ rights

• Dr Bnauri says institutions issuing fake degrees are endangering students’ future, committing injustice to society

ISLAMABAD: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Bnauri on Tuesday said that the rights of students must be protected, as they are the primary stakeholders of the higher education sector.

Addressing a press conference here, he emphasised on steps to protect student rights in order to cater to the needs of the next generations and enable students to become a successful citizen. He maintained that a number of measures have to be taken in this regard e.g. ensuring quality of education and research, capacity building of faculty and imparting practical knowledge to students.

He underlined that the faculty capacity building programmes need a review for further improvement. He said that the training programmes were being planned for the university leadership as well as administration so that issues like governance, financial management, human resource development, and additional resource generation can be addressed efficiently.

Terming quality of education and research a fundamental goal, he said that the vice chancellors should ensure students right to quality education wherein they may have interaction opportunities. “It must be ensured that students are not cheated or defrauded in any way,” he said. He explained that substandard and low quality academic programmes initiated by the universities in violation of the HEC guidelines were also tantamount to cheating students.

He said that the institutions issuing fake degrees were not only endangering the students’ future but also committing injustice to the society. “Exploiting education invites strong regulatory action,” he clarified, as HEC gives minimum standards which the universities must abide by. He stressed the importance of the information technology to bring efficiency in teaching, research, university governance and administrative as well as financial affairs.