https://twitter.com/home https://www.facebook.com/Shabbir.Hussain191By Shabbir Hussain
ISLAMABAD, May 16(Alliance News): The Higher Education Commission has introduced major reforms in the university admission system across Pakistan by announcing a new policy for admissions to graduate-level programmes aimed at ensuring transparency, uniformity and merit-based selection.
Under the revised policy, all public and private universities have been barred from conducting separate entrance examinations for admissions to MS, MPhil and PhD programmes.
According to the commission, admissions to Level 7 and Level 8 degree programmes will now be based on the standardized test conducted by the Education Testing Council instead of separate university-administered entry tests.
The HEC stated that universities would no longer be allowed to hold independent entrance examinations in place of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or other standardized testing mechanisms approved by the commission.
Officials said the decision was taken to establish a uniform, transparent and merit-driven testing framework for graduate education throughout the country.
Under the new policy, graduation records and examination performance have also been made mandatory components for admission to MPhil and PhD programmes.
The commission noted that the revised system aims to improve the quality of graduate education by ensuring equal opportunities and standardized evaluation criteria for students seeking admission to higher degree programmes.
As part of the reforms, certain provisions of the Graduate Education Policy 2023 have been abolished with immediate effect to align the admission framework with the newly introduced testing and evaluation procedures.
The HEC directed all universities and degree-awarding institutions to ensure immediate and complete implementation of the updated admission policy.
Education experts believe the centralized testing mechanism could help reduce inconsistencies in admission standards among universities while improving fairness and transparency in the higher education sector.
Analysts say the move may also help address concerns regarding varying admission criteria and testing procedures previously adopted by different institutions across the country.
The introduction of a single testing system is expected to simplify the admission process for students applying to multiple universities and improve overall academic governance in graduate education.
Officials emphasized that the reforms are part of broader efforts to strengthen Pakistan’s higher education system and enhance academic standards in research-based programmes.
The new policy is also expected to encourage merit-based admissions and improve the credibility of graduate-level academic assessments nationwide.
Further implementation guidelines and operational details are expected to be shared with universities and academic institutions in the coming weeks.
