Higher Education Commission (HEC) Finalizes Undergraduate Education Policy for BS and AD Programs

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The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has finalized the Undergraduate Education Policy (UEP) 2020, which provides the framework for enhancing the quality of new programs leading to Bachelor of Studies (BS) degrees and Associate Degree (AD) in Affiliated Colleges and Universities.

The UEP is being implemented in all public Higher Education institutions (HEIs) and Affiliated Colleges (ACs) across the country. To gauge the impact of the UEP on learning outcomes, the HEC has partnered with the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project to conduct an assessment study.

The study will assess the improvement in learnings due to the newly implemented programs under the UEP. It will also be an indicator of progress in improved teaching and learning in Affiliated Colleges.

The project has engaged an international expert, Mr. Salvador Malo Álvarez, to support the study. Mr. Salvador is a Mexican national with extensive experience in higher education policy and reform in Latin America. He has developed an international test for assessing cognitive learning skills rather than rote learning of content.

In his recent visit to Pakistan, Mr. Salvador held a five-day workshop on the development of assessment tools and item writing for key assessment officials. He encouraged participants to align their understanding and comprehension of the assessment as per international standards.

The workshop also resulted in the development of an indigenous assessment tool called contextualized LSAT. The tool will be used to assess the baseline learning of students enrolled under the revised UEP.

The baseline assessment will be executed in September 2023 with the commencement of the Fall 2023 semester. The baseline study will test 6000 students enrolled in 102 ACs from all the provinces and will be scaled up to test 10000 students from 160 Colleges in Pakistan.