HIGHER Education Commission has been initiating various guidelines and criteria for improving the quality of graduates with the support of the Government of Pakistan during the last 23 years.
The faculty appointment criteria in different disciplines were developed back in 2005, which mainly comprise Qualification, Experience, and Publication as minimum requirements. The main objective was to recruit a faculty member who has relevant qualifications, publications, and experience may join the University. He is expected to carry out teaching and learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
The universities followed HEC criteria, and graduates produced from the University’s main campuses were able to excel in teaching and research. The Government’s continuous support helped the Universities to establish Libraries and Laboratories at their campuses. This has helped the academicians to produce research papers from Hundreds in 2002 to Thousands these days. The different stakeholders, including the main government recruiting agencies, still raise concerns about the quality of the graduates as they lack communication, critical and analytical skills, which are pare to the 21st-century soft skills. To improve the employability of the graduates by equipping them with the required knowledge, skills, and competencies, the need for finding appropriate guidelines arose.
The Higher Education Commission’s partnership with the British Council under the Pak-UK Gateway explored the possibilities of developing a customized version of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF). The tool was developed by the Office of Students in the United Kingdom in 2016-17 after they realized that universities are mostly focusing on research, and undergraduate teaching is not meeting employers’ expectations in terms of knowledge, skills, and competencies.
The TEF represents a shift in the UK’s higher education quality assurance system, moving from a compliance-driven approach to one based on performance recognition and enhancement. It was introduced to “recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching.” The TEF assessment requires multiple inputs to award institutions one of three ratings: Gold, Silver, or Bronze. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are required to submit a 25-page narrative statement along with supporting evidence to the Office for Students (OfS). In parallel, student surveys based on TEF parameters—such as academic experience, resources, assessment and outcomes—are also submitted. The OfS then engages a panel of assessors, including students, who review the submissions from both HEIs and students, as well as other data sources like the National Student Survey (NSS), which is conducted annually by graduates of all universities.
The practice carried out in the UK has helped the graduates to get employment immediately after graduation, as they were taught, mentored, and groomed in line with the TEF’s student-centric approach for teaching and learning. The Universities on the other side are given autonomy to design programs as per market demand. The government will provide funding, and they may also charge fees on their own. A similar approach in Pakistan will also help graduates to get quality education and employment of their choice. It will compel faculty members to develop a balance between research and teaching.
The Higher Education Commission has already engaged teaching faculty members in a committee to develop a customized version for Pakistan. The committee is being given exposure to the universities in the UK which have acquired gold, silver, and bronze awards in the previous TEF assessment i.e. 2023. They will understand the whole cycle of TEF and reflect their observation in the shape of a report to the HEC. The further action required for the implementation of the TEF in Pakistan will be to develop a capacity building of the faculty members and relevant staff for effective implementation.
Many quality assurance activities—such as course evaluations, self-assessment reports, and annual QEC progress reports—are already in place and can be aligned with the TEF. TEF offers a balanced approach by combining quantitative accountability with qualitative reflection and expert judgment, encouraging HEIs to adopt practices that enhance student learning and outcomes. With Pakistan’s large youth population, there is significant potential to engage them in educational programs aligned with local, regional, and global needs. TEF can help ensure graduates gain market-relevant skills and improve employability by focusing on both in-class and out-of-class learning experiences. Universities must create an effective teaching and learning environment, which includes rationalizing teaching workloads and offering in-service training in modern teaching methods. Additionally, university administrations need to support co-curricular activities, which are essential for holistic development. Implementing TEF effectively requires institutional commitment and capacity building to embed a culture of continuous teaching excellence.
—The writer is Director Quality Assurance, HEC, Islamabad.
