Meeting of NBEAC Chairman with Chairman HEC and Executive Director HEC:
All Business Schools should immediately seek Accreditation from NBEAC: Dr. Javaid Laghari

The meeting of Chairman-NBEAC was conducted with Chairman-Higher Education Commission, Dr. Javed Laghari and Executive Director(HEC) Dr. Sohail Naqvi at Chairman-HECs' office on Saturday ,Sept 17,2011. Dr. Javaid R. Laghari Chairperson Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Saturday emphasised the need to make efforts for improving quality of business education and asked the business schools to seek accreditation from National Business Education Accreditation Council (NBEAC) immediately.

He was talking to Chairman NBEAC Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad in a meeting held on Saturday to review the progress and activities of the NBEAC. Dr Laghari appreciated the initiatives taken by the NBEAC to improve quality of business education in Pakistan. Dr Laghari identified the need to synchronise the roadmaps of various degree programmes from undergraduate to doctorate level for smooth transition of the students from one to another. He also highlighted the need for faculty development, improving quality of classroom instruction and industrial linkages.

It was agreed that the MBA degree should be considered in principle as a two-year degree and minimum requirement for admission should be 16-years academic qualification. Those entering the MBA programme with prior education in business administration would be provided waiver of up to 15 credit hours while those joining the non-business undergraduate degrees would undergo two-year studies including summer sessions if necessary. Similarly, students with 14-year degrees should be offered admission to other degree programmes to facilitate them converting it into 16-year bachelor degree.

Executive Director HEC Dr Sohail Naqvi emphasised that revamping of curriculum and its alignment with cutting-edge developments at global level would meet the demands of corporate sector in Pakistan. It was agreed that communication and leadership skills along with managerial expertise should be made part of curriculum for enhancing personal effectiveness and development of managerial expertise.

The chairman NBEAC apprised the HEC leadership about steps taken to develop a formidable team of evaluators at national level to take care of the workload of peer evaluation. He also informed that a premium training programme of top tier trainers would be held in October in collaboration with the European Foundation for Management Development at Brussels.

The chairperson HEC approved the idea of setting up National Resource Centre for case studies to promote practical training and provide analytical training on issues related to the world of business and industry. All cases would have blind review process and upon acceptance the writers would receive acknowledgement equivalent to a paper in the HEC approved journal. It was decided that workshops for case writing skills would be held in all provinces.

Dr Laghari also approved the proposal to hold the First International Conference on Management Education in March 2012 in Lahore. It was decided that leading international accrediting agencies such as The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and European Foundation for Management Development would be invited to share their expertise regarding quality of management education. This forum would generate research interests in advanced theoretical as well as practical issues and challenges facing management education in Pakistan. Ahtesham Ali Raja, Programme Manager (NBEAC), Sania Tufail, Programme Co-ordinator and Munazza Zaidi Research Officer were also present on the occasion.