In the Affiliation Policy 2024, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has imposed stringent guidelines for universities and other degree-awarding institutes.
A no-objection certificate (NOC) from the HEC must be obtained by universities or degree-awarding institutions prior to affiliating with public or private colleges, as stipulated in the Affiliation Policy 2024.
In order to keep their affiliation, formerly associated colleges will also have their desk assessments done by the HEC. Universities are required by the higher education authorities to furnish basic information about their current associated colleges via the HEC site.
In the event that educational institutions disregard the new policy, HEC has decided to impose severe penalties, such as refusing to certify degrees and other disciplinary actions.
Moreover, colleges that violate the guideline will likely not be allowed to affiliate. The commission has also determined that it will not accept diplomas or other records from pupils who violated its rules.
Universities are not allowed to affiliate new programmes with colleges until such programmes have been running at the university for at least five years, according to the proposed regulation.
In order to guarantee that the new policy is applied correctly, HEC has also established an online portal.
On this portal, universities are required to post information on both their current and former associated colleges.
Earlier this week, HEC alerted the students to confirm accreditation of Professional Degree Programme before taking admission.
The professional degree programmes/qualifications cannot be offered or continued without accreditation by the corresponding professional councils. Even so, some universities still offer admission to unaccredited and invalid programmes causing serious threat to the future of students and leading to loss of time and monetary resources.
Therefore, students and their parents are advised to confirm, before taking admission, if the sought-after degree programmes are accredited by the concerned Professional Councils.