LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Commission chairperson Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin says less than 10pc of Pakistani population has access to higher education and it cannot be compared to neighbouring countries such as India, Iran, China and Turkey.

He was addressing the commission meeting to review its performance at its secretariat on Tuesday.

The PHEC, he said, established foreign and indigenous training and scholarship programmes for the staff and faculty members of 700 colleges and universities. He said more than 400 faculty members from public-sector colleges and universities were given training in academics,administration and finance areas in the Faculty Development Academy.

He said national and international scholarship programmes including post-doctoral fellowships and split PhD scholarships were introduced for the faculty members for their exposure to equip themselves with the best learning opportunities in their fields.

Dr Nizamuddin said the PHEC had introduced thematic research grants for post-doctoral fellowships, awarding150 travel grants to scholars of provincially chartered universities to present their research work at international conferences. `These initiatives are intended to not only build the capacity of academic staff to conduct research but to promote the much-needed culture of research among faculty and students,` he added.

He said the organisation had funded 30 national and international conferences in 2017, sent 22 students abroad on fully-funded scholarships and signed two MoUs with local universities for split PhD scholarships.

He said the PHEC and the HED were working to regulate and streamline the illegal campuses and degree programmes of universities in line with the policies of the Punjab government. `We are determined to protect students from investing time and money in such illegal and unregulated programmes,` concluded Dr Nizamuddin.-Reporter