HEC stops Preston University from taking new admissions

Islamabad: Preston University as well as its sub-campuses, including Kohat Campus, Islamabad Campus, Peshawar Campus, Lahore Campus, Karachi Campus (CCMIT Malir), Karachi Campus (North Nazimabad) as well as Karachi Main Campus have been banded by Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan from taking new admissions because the varsity has failed to meet the quality criteria set by the HEC.

The supervisory authority for the educational institutes has disapproved the university because of the academic irregularities, negligence as well as its failure to abide by obligatory standards as set by the management.

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Higher Education commission has further ordered that the varsity would not be permitted to admit new aspirants until and unless it abides by the rules set by the regulatory authority.

As per the details, the varsity has been asked for hostels/dorms at its main campus according to the policies of higher education commission.

Preston University has also been advised to hire the registrar, controller examination as well as treasurer on permanent basis. To upgrade its quality enhancement cell, the university also ordered to hire a regular director.

If the university fails to fulfill these orders, strict action will be taken against these educational institutes.

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Earlier, the higher education commission had ordered the Preston University to close admissions in its 2 programmes, which comprised of Bachelor of Science (BS) and Masters of Sciences (MS). The department of quality insurance rejected the quality criteria set by Preston University for these programmes and finally higher education commission ordered Preston to close admissions in these programmes.

On the other hand, some aspirants also praised the financial aid programme of the university and said that the university has contributed a lot in protecting the future of large number of aspirants belonging to poor families.

The director of Faculty of Engineering and Technology Department Riaz told media sources that he believes that the decisions of higher education commission are rational however doors of educational institutes should not be closed for the aspirants, particularly the students those belonging to less privileged families.

“We are providing PhD degree holders as well as gold medalist staff even to the students of bachelor’s level,” he added.

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While talking to the media sources, Director General Media of HEC Ayesha Ikram said that the commission issues parent and student alerts on daily basis in national and provincial newspapers as well as through social media warns the people to check the list of recognized educational institutes and accredited programmes from the official website of HEC.

The aspirants are continuously warned that higher education commission will not attest degrees or certificates got from such universities or educational institutes, she added.