The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training met on Thursday under the Chairmanship of Senator Irfan-ul-Haq Siqqidui at the Parliament House in Islamabad.
The committee disposed of the matter regarding the issue of the placement of the educational institutions situated in the Islamabad Capital Territory under the administrative control of Municipal Corporation, Islamabad, and it stands resolved with the assurance for the incorporation of the amendments proposed by the stakeholders, and their complete adoption.
Chairman Siddiqui reiterated that the matter should be followed up periodically and the concerns can be brought back into the committee for deliberation.
Regarding the matter of the Provision of Higher Education opportunities for students of Balochistan and the erstwhile FATA, the committee unanimously recommended the extension of the closure of the portal date.
“Around 20,000 to 25,000 students have been deprived of admission due to the portal closure date,” Siddiqui remarked and strongly recommended the extension.
It was also recommended by the committee that the issue of the provision of the scholarships at the provincial level should be permanently resolved by holding joint meetings with the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) in accordance with the Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, the Planning Commission, and the Higher Education Commission, with recommendation for the representation of the provincial government as well.
The Committee Chairman also sought a briefing by the HEC for the development of a mechanism for the resolution of the granting of scholarships at the provincial level.
The committee also noted that the MDCAT students who could not be accommodated last year due to the delay in the identification of seats by the HEC are not allowed to get admission in the coming year as the admission criteria that has been changed from 60 percent to 65 percent is unfair for the students.
“The HEC changes criteria every year, it is unjust that the present seats, as well as seats from last year, remain unfilled due to perfunctory changes in the criteria,” stated Senator Siddiqui. He also recommended that the students from last year should be accommodated according to last year’s criteria.
The committee recommended allowing the availing of the 36 seats for the students who had fulfilled the criteria from the previous year apart from the 265 seats allocated for the new academic year.
Bills titled ‘The Pak University of Engineering and Emerging Technology University Bill, 2022’ and ‘The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Amendment Bill, 2022’ were deferred due to the absence of the concerned minister.
Chairman Siddiqui deferred the bills for the next meeting and said, “The prerogative of the minister is essential over the bills of utter importance and cannot be ignored”.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Senators Fawzia Arshad, Jam Mahtab Hussnain Dahar, Rana Maqbool Ahmad, Mushtaq Ahmad, Sardar Muhammad Shafiq, and Engr. Rukhsana Zuberi. Senior officials from the ministry and its attached departments were also in attendance.
