18 private varsities barred from admission

LAHORE :Higher Education Department (HED), Punjab Friday barred 18 private universities and degree awarding institutes of the province from giving admission to any student in their unapproved and unaccredited faculties, departments or programmes.

Sources in the HED said of these private sector higher education institutions (HEIs) had either not got approval of the Chancellor to offer certain programmes or accreditation from regulatory and registration bodies such as Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) etc. Also some of these institutes had opened sub-campuses without any approval. 

In separate letters to each university and institute, the HED Punjab directed these institutions to forward requests for accreditation afresh or for the regularisation of unapproved faculties, departments, programmes or sub-campuses to the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) by September 26 for subsequent processing. The department also asked these institutes to meet the deficiencies ‘already pointed out’ by the PHEC within their own interest.

Sources said in a recent meeting with Rectors/Vice-Chancellors, HED Secretary Naveed Awan and PHEC Chairperson Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin had taken this issue quite seriously and had asked the private institutions to follow the rules and procedures in order to safeguard the future of students. On this occasion, the private sector had also complained about pending cases and delays vis-à-vis government approvals.    

The sources said the latest development was continuation of the same meeting as after the declaration of intermediate and BA/BSc examinations’ results in Punjab the admission season had started and this was the right time to bar these institutes from offering admissions in unapproved and unaccredited programmes. 

According to the documents available with The News, the following universities/degree awarding institutes have following programmes, faculties, departments and programmes as unapproved and unaccredited. 

University of Central Punjab (UCP): Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, BS Psychology, MS Psychology, PhD Psychology, Faculty of Sciences: BS Zoology, BS Botany, BS Chemistry, BS Mathematics, BS Physics and BS Statistics.

Faculty of Life Sciences: Departments of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology and also issue of unauthorised sub-campuses, affiliations and ADP programme. University of Management & Technology (UMT), Lahore: School of Architecture and Planning: BS Architecture (Fall only), BS City and Regional Planning, School of Health Sciences: Doctor of Physiotherapy, Doctor of Nutrition Sciences, BS Medical Laboratory Sciences, NS Medical Imaging and Ultrasonography, School of Food and Agricultural Sciences: BS Food Technology, BS Dairy Technology, BS Integrated Agriculture Management.

Institute of Aviation Studies: BS Aviation Management, BS Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology with EASA part 66 Licence (B3 and B1.2) affiliated with Germany, Institute of Islamic Banking: BS Islamic Banking and Finance, School of System & Technology. 

University of Faisalabad: Faculty of Engineering & Technology: BS Interior Design, BS Engineering Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Department of Pharmacy), Faculty of Medicine & Allied health sciences, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Doctor of Health and Sports management, Doctor of Forensic Science, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Optometry, Nutrition & Diabetics, Nursing, Radiology & Ultrasonography, Community Medicine, Pathology, basic Health Sciences and Dental Sciences. Global Institute: Department of Technology Management: Bachelors inCivil Technology Management, Bachelors in Electrical Technology Management, Bachelors in Mechanical Technology Management, Bachelors in Electronics Technology Management B.Tech (Hons)—Civil, Electrical, mechanical and Electronics, B.Tech (Pass)—Civil, Electrical, mechanical and Electronics, Department of ICT Management, BS IT Management, BSCS Management, MCS, MIT, MIS

National College of Business Administration & Economics: Programmes in Psychology, Sociology, Islamic Studies, Urdu, History, Political Sciences, Mass Communication, Geography, Law, English, technology & Education and MSc Environmental Management. 

HITEC University, Taxila: Department of Computer Science and Engineering: BS & MS Computer Science.

Imperial College of Business Studies: Faculty of Health & Allied Sciences: BSc Medical Ultrasound Technology, BS Virology & Immunology, BS Molecular Pathology, Post Professional Doctor of Optometry and Transitional Doctor of Optometry.

Architecture, Art & Design: Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting, Sculpture, Miniature), Bachelor of Fashion Design, Bachelor of Textile Design, Bachelor of Interior Architecture, Bachelor of Product Design and BS English. 

Faculty of Art, Social Sciences and Humanities: Department of Management Sciences, Economics, Accounting & Finance, English, Urdu, Islamic Studies, Pak Studies, Law, Aviation Management, Technology Programmes, Media Studies and Biological Sciences programmes.

Hajvery University: Film, TV, Advertising & Media Studies: MSc Media Studies, BSs (Hons); Engineering: BS (Hons) 4-year Electronics/Telecom, BS-Tech (Hons) 4-year in Electrical/Civil and Telecom.

Pharmacy: MPhil leading to PhD Pharmacy, including Specialisation Pharmacology-Pharmaceutics. Health Sciences: MPhil leading to PhD, Physiotherapy and DPT (Doctor of Physiotherapy)

University of Wah, Wah Cantt: Civil, Chemical and MS Engineering Programmes, all Technology Programmes and Accounting and Finance Programme.

Institute of Southern Punjab, Multan: Faculty of Social Sciences: Departments of Islamic Studies and Urdu. 

Faculty of Engineering & Applied Technology: Department of Engineering & Technology, Computer Sciences & Information Technology, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

International Relations: BA/BSc 2 Years

University of Lahore: Faculty of Engineering & Technology: Departments of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics and Electrical Systems and Technology,

Establishment of Faculty of Law: Institute of Law/Law College

Faculty of Allied Health Sciences: Departments of Health Professional Technologies, Sports Sciences, Nursing, Radiological Sciences and Medical Imaging Technology, Optometry & Vision Sciences, University Institute of Physical Therapy, University Institute of Public Health, Diet & Nutritional Sciences and University Institute of Clinical Lab technology and Doctor of Medical Laboratory Sciences (DLMS)        

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry: MBBS and BDS

Establishment of Faculty of Arts & Architecture: Department of Architecture and School of Creative Arts.

Faculty of Pharmacy: Addition of Departments in Faculty of Management Sciences, including Lahore Business School, Lahore School of Management, Lahore School of Aviation ad Lahore School of Accounting & Finance. Issues of sub-campuses in various cities of the Punjab, including Islamabad.

Superior Colleges: Faculty of Allied Health Sciences: Doctor of Physical Therapy, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Medical Imaging Technology, Optometry, Dietetics and Nutritional Sciences, BS Programmes in Biochemistry & Biotechnology, Microbiology & Biotechnology, Molecular Biology and & Biotechnology

Faculty of Pharmacy (Pharm-D)

Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities: Masters in Mass Communication Management and BS (Hons) Mass Communication Management.     

Faculty of Medical, Faculty of Engineering & Technology: BSc Computer Engineering, BS Avionics Engineering, BS Electrical System and BS Engineering Technology, PhD Electrical Engineering, MS Electrical Engineering

Department of Applied Physics: BS Computational Physics, BS Medical Physics, BS Engineering Physics, BS Electronics & Information System, NUR International University, Lahore: Faculty of Applied Sciences: BS Applied Psychology, BS Animal Sciences, BS Speech & Language Therapy, BS Medical Lab Technology and Doctor of Physical Therapy.

Faculty of Basic Sciences: BS Biotechnology, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences: BS Economics with specialisation tracks in Development & Economics.

University of South Asia, Lahore: Faculty of Engineering & Technology: Bachelors of Civil Engineering, Bachelors of Electrical Engineering; Faculty of Life & Health Sciences: Departments of Physiotherapy and Department of Food & Nutrition Sciences.

Faculty of Biological Sciences/Life Sciences: Departments of Biotechnology, Biotechnology & Agro Sciences, Microbiology, Environmental Sciences, Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Biochemistry and Microbiology.

Faculty of Management Sciences: Department of Human Resource;

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Departments of Public relations, Musicology, Languages, Language & Literature, English, Urdu and Fashion & Design.

Faculty of Art and Fashion Design: Department of Fashion and Design, LLM Programme, Department of Pharmacy.

Minhaj University, Lahore: Faculty of Engineering and Technology: Department of Chemical Engineering; Faculty of Law, Faculty of Computer Sciences & Information Technology: Department of Software Engineering; Faculty of Commerce and Management Sciences: Department of Islamic Economics Banking & Finance.

Faculty of Basic Sciences & Mathematics: Departments of Botany, Zoology, Medical Laboratory Technology, Food & Nutrition; Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities: Departments of International Relations, Mass Communication, Education, Library and Criminal Justice System, Behavioral Sciences, Peace and Counter Terrorism, Religions and Philosophy, Sociology and Applied Psychology.

Lahore Leads University: BS Software Engineering, BS Islamic Finance, BS Mathematics, MSc Mathematics, MS/MPhil Mathematics, BS Sports Sciences & Physical Education, Master in Sports & Physical Education (16 years), BA. LLB (5 Years), Pharm-D (Collaborative programme with UVAS) and all technology programmes.

Beaconhouse National University (BNU): BBA programme

Lahore Garrison University (LGU): Departments of Biology, Zoology, Geography, Statistics, Mass Communication, Islamic Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Education, Home Economics, Management Sciences, Commerce and Economics, Urdu and Computer Sciences and Software Engineering. BS programmes, including Environmental Sciences, Microbiology, Botany, Zoology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology and MS/MPhil programmes in Microbiology and Zoology. 

When contacted, HED Additional Secretary (Academics) Dr Shoaib said students suffered a lot when they got admissions in unapproved and unaccredited programmes and the latest move was aimed to protect the future of the students. He said the private institutions could only offer admissions in these programmes only once all formalities were met and approvals were granted from relevant authorities.