Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Rana Tanveer Hussain, inaugurated on Tuesday the Ph.D. Country Directory Online System at the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan.
Through the launch of the online system that can be accessed via ‘eservices.hec.gov.pk/#/pcd,’ the HEC’s conventional Ph.D. Country Directory (PCD) setup has been automated to improve efficiency in the PCD registration process of Ph.D. scholars in Pakistan.
A ceremony, held in this connection, at HEC Secretariat was attended by Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Executive Director HEC Dr. Shaista Sohail, Vice Chancellors of different universities, and a large number of Ph.D. scholars.
The PCD Online System, developed by the HEC Higher Education Data Repository with the help of Information Technology (IT) and other Divisions, will enable the inclusion of Pakistani Ph.D.s in the HEC data, through university focal persons, within a few days without submission of documents or applications in the hard form.
Earlier, the PCD processes involving five stages took a Ph.D. scholar several months to be part of the registered Ph.D. community of Pakistan.
Addressing the ceremony, Rana Tanveer Hussain termed the launch of the PCD Online System commendable and hoped that the development will benefit the Ph.D. scholars in a hassle-free manner.
He highlighted the importance of employing technology in institutional operations to make processes easier for the public. He emphasized the need for investment in human capital and underlined the role of HEC in developing human resources for the country.
The Minister stated that the development of higher education and marketable, need-based research is the key to the progress and prosperity of a nation. He advised the universities to establish special on-campus setups for the promotion of skill-based education.
He urged the universities to enhance financial discipline, engage with industry, encourage entrepreneurship, and turn Offices of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization (ORICs) into earning entities.
Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed said that HEC will soon automate all of its functions and processes to facilitate students, faculty, and the general public, adding that the HEC degree verification system will be synched with the NADRA database to make attestation easier.
The objective of this concept is to improve efficiency, improve quality, and better facilitate people, he underscored. He urged the Vice Chancellors to help HEC expedite the delivery of services to the academic community and students. He said that HEC is committed to ensuring the delivery of services to the nation in the best possible way.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Shaista Sohail asserted that the inauguration of the PCD online system, within a short period of only three months, will accelerate the registration of PhDs as currently, 29300 PhDs are part of the PCD data.
Earlier, Director General HEDR Mr. Ghulam Nabi shared a detailed presentation on a comparison between the conventional PCD launched in 2009 and the flagship PCD Online System.
He informed the audience that HEC trained over 300 focal persons of universities on the new PCD System and received feedback from universities for incorporation. He said HEC HEDR, while heading towards a paperless environment, will announce the launch of an online data collection system, ranking system, data warehousing and analytics, and statistical booklet in the next few months.
