First-ever University of the Year award launched in Punjab
2021-05-28
LAHORE: The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) and Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) on Thursday launched the firstever annual contest of `University of the Year` for the public universities to boost thestandardofeducadon.
The HED and PHEC have developed criteria for assessing the academic and administrative excellence of public universities in Punjab. A total of 30 universities will be assessed annually by the experts in the field and the one securing the highest marks in the scoring grid shall be declared the `University of the Year`.
There shall be two different categories of the competition. The first category would be of the universities established before 2010 and second those established af ter 2010.
Under the criteria, innovations, new start-ups and product development have been given a major share in the score pie while faculty development, internationalisation and fund generation have also been prioritised.
In total, these universities shall be graded on the basis of 10 different parameters, which shouldn`t only enhance the quality of education but also promote entrepreneurship among the students and boost the employability skills of graduates.
Punjab Minister for Higher EducationRaja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz said practical steps were being taken for establishing at least one state-of-the-art university in every district for improving the youth`s access to education.
He explained the `University of the Year` contest was designed to encourage, motivate and guide the universities to attain educational excellence and ensure quality education. He said these universities would be recognised provincially and pepped up for global representation.
`The contest is being organised as a strategic initiative to understand global challenges and presenting innovative solutions.
The minister added that during the last three years, the government had made great strides in the education sector and theuniversitiesQSrankinghadimproved manifolds.
`The Punjab University jumped 54 points in the year 2020 as compared to the year 2018. As per the latest QS Ranking for Asia, 11 universities from Punjab surfaced on it while adding previously only six universities of the province appeared in QS rankings in 2018.
Mr Sarfraz said the criterion for best university was designed to integrate QS Rankings for universities as one of the key performance indicators.
