On November 5, 2025 in Islamabad the Higher Education Commission’s Quality Assurance Agency convened an orientation for representatives of HEC-established Accreditation Councils to initiate implementation of REQAAB under the Pakistan Precepts, Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education 2023.
The PSG-2023 framework, developed in collaboration with QAA-UK since 2021 and launched in August 2023, seeks to marry internationally recognised quality assurance benchmarks with context-sensitive, local solutions to raise standards across Pakistani higher education.
Nasir Shah, Director General (Quality Assurance) at HEC, chaired the session and underlined the pivotal role of Accreditation Councils in adopting REQAAB so accredited programmes can gain broader national and international recognition. He stressed seamless coordination between the Councils and the HEC to meet national educational priorities while aligning with global quality benchmarks.
Muhammad Raza, Deputy Director at HEC, presented the PSG-2023 framework and the REQAAB component, emphasising the need to modernise accreditation practices to respond to a rapidly changing global education and employment landscape. The presentation highlighted how the revamped QA framework supports academic integrity, institutional collaboration and enhanced global reputation for Pakistani institutions.
The session made clear that REQAAB requires Accreditation Councils to map existing processes to the new standards and to submit to periodic reviews by national or international quality assurance agencies to ensure ongoing compliance and effectiveness. This accountability mandate is central to the framework’s aim of continuous improvement.
Irfan Ullah, Director QAA, urged the Councils to develop sustainable business models, noting that such structures are currently absent and are essential to long-term operational effectiveness under REQAAB.
The orientation concluded with a collective commitment from all participating Accreditation Councils to work closely with QAA-HEC for a timely transition to the strengthened REQAAB-based quality assurance mechanism, a step expected to elevate the standing of Pakistani higher education locally and abroad.
