Pakistani Universities Will Help HEC To Develop Online Courses

According to the latest reports, around 11 Pakistani universities have agreed to help in the development of high-quality online courses in order to revamp the curriculum. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) hosted a meeting of vice-chancellors on Saturday. The main goal of this meeting was to discuss the development of asynchronous online courses as part of the new undergraduate core curriculum.

11 Pakistani Universities Will Help HEC To Develop Asynchronous Online Courses

The fact is that Asynchronous courses allow students to learn at their own pace. The lectures and other study materials are made available to them at all times. The meeting, organized by the HEC’s Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) recently formed a consortium of universities in order to work on the initiative.

The universities which have been added to that list are based on their expertise and interest in developing and delivering online learning platforms and online courses at a large scale. The universities that will help in developing the online courses include:

• Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Islamabad
• Aga Khan University, Karachi
• Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering
• Management Sciences (Buitems), Quetta
• Comsats University, Islamabad
• Habib University, Karachi
• Hazara University, Mansehra
• Lahore College for Women’s University
• Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums)
• National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust)
• University of Baltistan, Skardu, and Virtual University, Lahore.

The new syllabus will include 11 core courses that have been taken from five broad categories as part of the HEC’s Undergraduate Education Policy courses. The point worth mentioning here is that courses will be available on PakistanEdX, a platform launched by HEDP and supported by the World Bank.

In addition to that, the consortium of universities will also contribute to courses on PakistanEdX by offering multilingual options in five categories. These categories will include:

• Arts and Humanities
• Social Sciences
• Quantitative Skills
• Natural Sciences
• Expository Writing

HEC Executive Director Dr. Shahista Sohail, while chairing the session stated:

“As a woman, I am glad to be a part of this initiative as it will benefit all irrespective of their gender. PakistanEdX will enable women to continue contributing to the economy without compromising their domestic and official responsibilities. Many women especially in disadvantaged areas will benefit as mobility can be an issue for women in many areas in our country,’’

The participants in the meeting also shared ideas on the technical and financial feasibility of the project. LUMS, AIOU, and Virtual University vice-chancellors even agreed to contribute towards PakistanEdX. The meeting has also set timelines for accepting credits for online courses as well.

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