ISLAMABAD:
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) announced on Tuesday that it will not recognise two-year bachelor degrees, BA/BSc, undertaken after the 2018 academic year.
A notification issued by the HEC stated that universities must immediately stop offering these degree programmes in line with the education commission’s decision to phase them out – letters notifying of the policy were issued on March 15, 2017 and July 11, 2019.
The HEC observed that the two-year degree programmes were still being offered at universities and colleges affiliated with it despite its notifications.
“Degrees shall not be recognised by HEC for students enrolled in these programmes after December 31, 2018,” the notification read.
In 2019, the HEC had announced that they will replace the two-year BA/BSc programme with Associate Degree programmes (AD) and changed the nomenclature for the degree.
The notification exclusively stated that the new postsecondary programme would be called an ‘Associate Degree’ and soon the BA-BSc programme would be discontinued.
The notification also stated that those students who enrolled before December 31, 2018 are allowed until December, 2020 to complete their BA, BSc degrees and those, who failed the course, would be awarded the Associate Degree upon completion of the course.
The notification also said that the aim of the associated degree programme is to provide a general education that is broadly applicable and helps students gain marketable skills.
