The commercialisation of education, carried out by global corporations is the practice of disrupting the teaching and learning process in schools from kindergarten to universities by introducing advertising and other commercial activities in order to increase profit.
A delegation of private sector universities in the NWFP has asked the governor to help extend the deadline set by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad, to meet the minimum criteria for granting charter, say officials.
Member of Punjab Assembly and standing committee S&GAD; Mrs. Rabia Aliya Khan has stressed the need of more effective contribution of the private sector in the promotion of education in the country.
The Pakistani authority has announced policies on several key issues on private higher education. The government agreed to expedite the establishment of 9 engineering universities with partnering countries such as Austria, Germany, Japan, etc. While these countries will handle administration and personnel of the universities, the Pakistani government will fully take care of the finance. Another issue concerns illegal and substandard universities run by the private sector. The government directs the provincial authorities to close down any private universities illegally operating and downgrade any institutions that fail to improve their standard.
Nine foreign universities that had agreed to set up engineering schools in Pakistan — with their own faculties and administrators — have now decided not to do so because they are leery of the worsening security situation and political uncertainty in the country, a daily newspaper in Pakistan reported, citing an unnamed spokesman of President Pervez Musharraf.
Private medical college business has become the easiest way to make money. These institutions running without required faculty or training facilities are recovering millions of rupees from parents in the name of medical education but producing half-backed doctors, not educated or trained as per the needs of market, said senior healthcare expert and ex-member of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Dr Shershah Syed here Thursday.
The National Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to keep Islamabad’s private educational institutions (PEIs) in check. The Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Registration and Regulation) Act 2012, which now awaits an approval from the senate and an OK from President Asif Ali Zardari, will require all law enforcement agencies to assist PEIRA in the “exercise of its powers and performance of its functions.”
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, Barrister Masood Kausar has asked the private sector educational institutions to actively share the responsibilities with the government in promoting higher educational facilities in Fata besides providing education to youth of KP.
The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday hurriedly passed three private member bills envisaging establishment of three universities in the private sector.
Ignoring all rules and procedures, an influential federal minister belonging to a coalition party is using every tactic and exerting influence at all levels to ensure passage of a bill in the parliament to establish a private university in the federal capital city that would ultimately be own by himself, The News has learnt.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has issued a list of private universities not recognised by HEC, warning students and their parents to ensure the status of the university or institute from the website of the commission before seeking admission.
HEC has identified eight private universities/institutes which have been granted charter by the respective authorities without fulfilling the cabinet criteria for establishment of new university/degree awarding institute including NOC from HEC.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have yet to start joint site inspections of private medical colleges. The NAB blames the medical council for the delay.
A controversy has surfaced between the Punjab University and University of Health Sciences (UHS) on the issue of migration of the son of Ex-IGP Punjab Haji Habibur Rehman from a private medical college to the government-run Sheikh Zayed Medical College, Lahore.
This will benefit private universities as they can keep the fee at Rs190,000 to avoid the tax,” said FAPUASA Secretary General Dr Jamil Ahmad Chitrali at the Punjab University Executive Club on Saturday.
The vice chancellors also recommended that the private higher education institutions, which are being run under trusts on non-profit basis, should be exempted from the taxes. The committee appreciated the higher education allocations to the sector and termed it a very positive change in the education sector.
The Young Doctors Association (YDA), Pakistan, has said that due to alleged negligence of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), 26 private medical and dental colleges have not created seats for postgraduate training in their respective teaching hospitals.