Last weekend (29 – 31 October 2021) over 200 Vice Chancellors and other higher education leaders from across Pakistan came together to discuss national policies and to set the strategic direction for higher education in the country.
Co-hosted by British Council and Higher Education Commission (HEC), the All Pakistan Vice Chancellors' Committee Meeting brought together Vice Chancellors and Rectors, heads of apex bodies and senior government officials, the Executive Director of HEC and the Country Director British Council Pakistan, the Federal Minister for Education, the State Minister for Climate Change and the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on Youth Affairs amongst others.
Key themes of the meeting were discussions around “Kamyab Jawan” (Successful Youth), Prime Minister’s Programmes on Climate Change and Sports for universities; mentoring programmes for faculty through the National Academy for Higher Education; hybrid modes of learning and teaching; the new graduate and PhD policies; and the role of the private sector.
A the event, British Council and HEC were delighted to launch two new initiatives:
- Pakistan’s first ever Open and Distance Learning (ODL) framework, which will benefit around two million students
- A new transnational education (TNE) handbook, developed under the Pak UK Education Gateway, to help international education providers operate and offer TNE programmes in Pakistan.
Other highlights included a session on faculty development and special recognition of Associate Fellowships offered by the Advance HE, UK through British Council and HEC. The British Council also announced additional funding this year, from the UK government, supporting the Scottish Scholarship Scheme for women in Pakistan. There were also consultation sessions, run by the British Council, around women’s leadership in higher education, and news about the upcoming launch of a consortium of female universities.
During the event, we were pleased that stakeholders recognised and acknowledged the support of British Council in improving the quality of higher education through the Pak UK Education Gateway. The Pak UK Education Gateway is a strategic framework which helps enable the Pakistan and UK HE sector to work together. Key areas of collaboration include joint research projects, faculty and management development, consultancy and advisory opportunities around STEM, women leadership, Quality Assurance and benchmarking and joint programmes for students.
Find out more and contact us
For more information about the All Pakistan Vice Chancellors' Committee Meeting or for copies of the ODL/TNE policies, please contact Dr. Nishat Riaz, our director education in Pakistan at Nishat.Riaz@britishcouncil.org.
You can also take a look at British Council Pakistan on Twitter or check out the Twitter discussions around #AllPakVCsConference and #PakUKEducationGateway.
The British Council's involvement in this event is linked to our Going Global Partnerships work, which supports partnerships between universities, colleges, education policy makers, civil society organisations and industry partners in the UK and around the world. Find out about our Going Global Partnerships funding calls and other opportunities.