HEC’s PhD policy rejected

Islamabad : Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) has rejected the revised PhD admission policy recently recommended to universities in Pakistan by the current administration of Higher Education Commission and vowed to resist such unilateral policies with full zeal.

Earlier, it was mandatory for students to have either an MPhil or equivalent degree or 2-year post-graduate teaching/research experience to apply for PhD admission in any Pakistani university.

The HEC had introduced 4-year BS programmes a few years ago in phases, while doing away with the MA/MSc programmes in all public-sector institutions of higher learning and research.

The Commission is in the process of phasing out the MPhil programmes also and had announced to replace with 6-semester MS programme as in vogue in the US and European universities to bring our system at par with the First World and enabling our PhD candidates to apply in the US, Canada etc. without undertaking their graduate programmes first.