Sindh: 15 universities meet all standards, declares HEC

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Farhan Zafar
Karachi: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has revised the rankings of private Sindh universities and institutes, dividing them into four categories, W, X, Y and Z.

The categories are divided according to Federal Cabinet requirements that were implemented to raise university standards in February 2007. The requirements include a Ph.D. faculty, a minimum 3-acre campus, an endowment fund, a library and other facilities.

Universities fulfilling all Federal Cabinet requirements are categorized in W. The HEC has placed 15 Sindh institutes in this category: Institute of Business Management, Iqra University, Hamdard University, Aga Khan University, Institute of Technology, Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education, Greenwich University, Indus Institute of Higher Education, Newport Institute of Communication, Ziauddin Medical University, Baqai Medical University, Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Institute of Technology, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Isra University Hyderabad and Szabist in Karachi.

Category X contains those universities that missed only a few requirements: Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Indus Valley Institute of Arts and Architecture, Jinnah University for Women, Textile Institute of Pakistan, Karachi Institute of Commerce and Technology, Princeton Institute of Management Sciences and Technology and Princeton University.

Only one university, the University of East Hyderabad, barely met the requirements and was placed in category Y, while DHA Suffa University and Nazir Hussain University failed to meet any of the requirements were placed in Z.

The universities in categories other than W have been given some time by the HEC to enhance their facilities and performance. It is essential for them to meet all of the requirements or they may be shut down.

APP adds: Jinnah University for Women, Nazimabad was also upgraded from category X to W, said a spokesperson on Saturday.

The university met all the requirements, such as qualified faculty members, a sufficient number of books in the library as well as the endowment fund etc. The enrolment of female students at the university is over 4,000 and the strength of the faculty members is 250 with 180 regular teachers.

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