ISLAMABAD: Higher Education Commission (HEC) has launched own testing body to conduct free, standardised tests for university admissions.
A ceremony to launch newly-established Educational Testing Council (ETC) was held at HEC Secretariat on Friday. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal was the chief guest in the event, who formally launched the ETC, whereas State Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Baleeghur Rehman, National Assembly Standing Committee on Education Chairman Amirullah Marwat, HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, representatives of KP and AJK governments and vice chancellors of different universities were also present.
Congratulating HEC on the launch of ETC, Ahsan Iqbal said that establishment of the council is part of the government’s efforts to achieve targets of Vision-2025, which is a roadmap for country’s development in all spheres. He expressed the hope that ETC will prove to be a credible and transparent entity to adopt a testing mechanism of international standard.
The minister described the initiative as an important step toward building the knowledge economy, adding that the incumbent government is providing all possible resources for the uplift of education in the country. “It is a misconception that PML-N is only working on infrastructure development, but in fact we are fully committed to providing quality education in the country,” he maintained. He said, “Provision of higher education to people’s door step is our priority.” Baleeghur Rahman also appreciated HEC for taking a much-needed step for standardisation of education in the country. He described various programmes of his ministry to develop minimum standards for primary and secondary education through consensus among all regions of Pakistan.
While elaborating the objectives of launching ETC, HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said that the council will be a self-governed body, which will be operational from Spring 2017. He said that all public and private universities of the country will be required to adopt ETC entry tests for admissions. “ETC will arrange a standardised entry test for university admissions, for which the respective university will determine weight-age of the test,” he added.
Initially, the tests will be conducted for undergraduate admissions and subsequently for MS and PhD admissions, and it will be valid for a period of two years, he said, adding the government will bear the cost of this test, which will be held twice a year. Responding to a question asked by journalists, the chairman said that the council will only conduct tests for admissions in university, whereas there is no plan to launch it on commercial basis to conduct tests for employment at this stage. The students lauded the commission’s steps to form a body which will conduct standardised test free of cost and also demanded to expand its network as currently they are facing huge problems due to heavy fees charged by the National Testing Service (NTS) for several tests.
