Sacrificing Quality.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) unilaterally passed a new PhD policy on January 1, entailing that BS students can get an admission into a PhD programme right after graduation. Considering that incompetent research, plagiarism and a lack of academic rigour already plague the education environment, the benefit of such a policy seems to be questionable. Focus seems to be misplaced now on producing larger quantities of doctoral candidates instead of capable ones. With most institutions dubious of this development, the HEC must step up and provide justifications.

According to this new policy, candidates do not need to send their dissertations to foreign experts for review, can pursue the degree in new fields and must have a minimum of a 3.0 CGPA. Furthermore, they must spend at least two years in Pakistan during their degree. As such, major restrictions that were effective in ensuring that excellence prevailed within the ambit of this degree have been removed. Now that they are more accessible, a clear shift has been made towards quantitative production rather than qualitative. Most graduates already battle inefficiencies within the system that stem from limited research facilities...