Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to Pakistan Andrei Ermolovich Calls On (HEC) Executive Director

Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to Pakistan Andrei Ermolovich paid visit to Executive Director of HEC, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Muhammad Asghar in Islamabad on Tuesday. Both sides discussed to strengthen and promote bilateral collaborations in the higher education sector.  The Executive Director of HEC said, ‘Pakistani students will be keen to go to Belarus for study abroad and research’. He stressed upon need to develop collaborations between higher education institutions of Belarus and Pakistan. He suggested the Ambassador to promote student exchange initiatives in higher education institutions of both countries.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to Pakistan Andrei Ermolovich attended the meeting along with Dr Alena Dastanka, Head of Academic Affairs Unit of the Belarusian State University. The Ambassador appreciated the efforts of HEC in developing higher education sector of Pakistan. He briefed the Executive Director of HEC that higher education institutes of Belarus offer two-year preparatory courses to foreign students to overcome language barrier. Moreover, there are a number of courses in Belarus that are totally English taught.
HEC Executive Director explained a brief history of HEC to Ambassador. He told him that HEC was an autonomous institution working to up raise standards and quality of education of higher education institutes of Pakistan. He informed when HEC started functioning there were only 59 universities in Pakistan. Now there are 192 universities in Pakistan. HEC worked to enhance quality of education, deliver equal accessibility of education to students belonging to all financial backgrounds and ensuring relevant research system in higher educational programmes.

The Executive Director of HEC also informed the Ambassador that each year the number of enrollments increases and the number research publications are also increasing. The research publication quality is better than before. He further said that HEC is keen to promote collaborations in research and academic linkages with higher education institutions of Belarus.

Orientation Session Held At University of Swat to Promote Quality of Higher Education System to Meet Challenges

An orientation session held at University of Swat on Tuesday. The speakers at the sessions stressed upon the need to promote and develop higher education system of Pakistan to meet future challenges. The title of the session was, ‘Strategies for Reshaping Higher Education in Pakistan’. The VC of University of Science and Technology Abbottabad attended the session and was a keynote speaker.

The VC of University of Swat also addressed the session and discussed different aspects of higher education system of Pakistan that need to be developed and globalized. While speaking at the session he said, ‘Improving the quality of higher education is the need of the hour. The higher education of Pakistan is not ranked anywhere among the world higher education systems in terms of quality. The standards and credibility of higher education depends on various factors such as favorable environment for teaching and learning, infrastructure, teachers, curriculum, effective feedback, research opportunities and monitoring systems’.

The speakers at the session discussed about characteristics of higher education system of Pakistan and mainly the discussion were focused that there is dire need to change attitude and outlooks in universities for development. Universities are platforms for educating and shaping civilized individuals and not merely degree attaining centers the speakers emphasized. The teachers need shape the mentality and deliver knowledge to students and direct them towards a constructive path through education.