HYDERABAD:The Internal Quality Assurance Agency (IQAA) of Higher Education Commission has visited the different academic departments of the University of Sindh Jamshoro to review the provided facilities for conducting exceptional research on the campus and performance of SU’s Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) regarding its input in this regard.
The team expressed its full satisfaction over the research amenities provided by the vice chancellor at the campus and appreciated the steps of vice chancellor taken to ensure quality research activities and develop research culture at Sindh University Jamshoro.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) had established QECs in 184 higher education institutions to strengthen their internal quality assurance (IQA) mechanism and develop a quality higher education system relevant to national needs and compatible with international quality assurance standards.
IQA team led by dean faculty of science, technology and humanities, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro Prof. Dr. Abdul Sami Qureshi, Dr. Asif Ali Shah, director QEC Sindh Agriculture University (SAU) Tandojam Riasat Ali Kubar, director QEC Sindh University (SU) Dr. Shahzad Ali Memon, dean graduate studies SU Dr. Sarfraz Ali Tunio, dean faculty of social sciences Dr. Zareen Abbasi, director S’s Institute of English Language and Literature Dr. Rafique Memon, Dr. Wazir Ali Baloch, Dr. Bashir Rind. Dr. Lachhman Das and Dr. Najma Memon visited SU’s Centre of Excellence for Analytical Chemistry, Centre for Pure and Applied Geology and many other academic departments with the aim to demonstrate excellence in teaching, learning and research on the campus.
The team called on the heads of these departments and met the students to know about the modalities of Institutional performance evaluation, review of MS and MPhil and PhD programmes and yearly progress report of QEC.
Later, HEC IQA team members saw SU vice chancellor Prof. Dr. Fateh Muhammad Burfat and shed light on the HEC’s vision regarding quality enhancement at the universities of the country. They said that efforts are underway to take steps to turn QECs into statutory bodies wherein the head of each QEC occupying a statutory position.
They also highlighted the significant role of directors at QECs in achieving their aim of setting up these cells.
Talking to the HEC IQA team, the vice chancellor Dr. Burfat said that no comptomise on the quality of research could be made at the campus adding that SU had always been focusing on the research that could benefit the masses in their real life.
“The researches in all the fields must have impact on the lives of people. Only the quality research can be beneficial for improvement in the lives of the masses; therefore we need to provide all-out facilities for conduct of quality research to the researchers and we are doing it”, he maintained.
He stated that it was time to gauge the impact of QECs with respect to employability and skills enhancement. Dr. Burfat added that the University of Sindh was following the guidelines of HEC and its QAA was striving to promote quality in the degree awarding institutions (DAIs). For this purpose, he said he knew that the QECs at 184 universities and DAIs were established to strengthen the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) mechanisms of these institutions.
He said there would be no difference between a university and a college if the quality of research was compromised at the UN.