A top-level delegation of 20 vice-chancellors from universities across Pakistan joined experts from Advance HE in York today to discuss the future of higher education.
The group, which included the Chairman of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, Professor Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, was in the UK as a part of an on-going collaboration between Pakistan and the UK.
Vision to grow
“The higher education sector in Pakistan has a vision to grow its number of universities to 300, to increase total enrolment to more than seven million students, as well as continuing to improve the quality of the education.” said Professor Dr Mukhtar.
“It’s an ambitious agenda and for this reason, we are keen to work with our counterparts in UK higher education and collaborate on areas such as leadership, quality assurance, standard setting and much more.”
During a nine-day visit to the UK organised by the British Council, the academics met with university leaders in Glasgow, Manchester and Oxford and London.
Professional Standards Framework
While in York, Advance HE chief executive Alison Johns outlined how the organisation supports leadership and governor development across the sector, including its prestigious Top Management Programme which has been undertaken by many of the UK vice-chancellors.
Also among the topics for discussion were the new Professional Standards Framework together with the Fellowship scheme which helps underpin academics’ career and professional development.
“We are pleased to welcome the delegation from Pakistan today,” said Alison Johns who met many of the delegation at a dinner at the Pakistan High Commission earlier this week.
“At Advance HE, we harness knowledge and expertise from across and co-created with the sector in order to support higher education institutions across the globe with the tools and good practice they can adopt to develop and thrive.
Ambitions for higher education
“Pakistan has considerable ambitions for higher education and, working with the British Council, we were delighted to be able to share some of the sector-developed approaches we offer institutions to enable them to be the best they can be for their students, staff and wider communities.
“In particular we were proud to be able share a detailed outline of the newly revised Professional Standards Framework – a sector-led tool that we believe can help deliver a step change in teaching and learning practice globally.”
Also among the speakers were Advance HE’s Assistant Director of Professional Recognition, Professor Will Foster: Lead Consultant (Education) for the organisation, Dr Kay Hack: Senior Consultant, Dr Charles Knight: Assistant Director International, Anne Moore and Head of Membership International, Ian Hall.
Find out more about Advance HE's Professional Standards Framework which is being adopted in countries around the world to help drive improvements to teaching practice.