Recent decades have seen a dramatic expansion in Quality Assurance (QA) efforts, giving rise to a new profession that calls for a dedicated academic discipline and set of courses through which experts in the field can be trained, new lines of research sparked, and innovative programmes launched.
However, the QA profession and its professionals receive very little education and training. While analysing the urgency and critical need for such training, the Sindh Higher Education Commission has already begun to fill this gap by organising QA workshops for the training and professional development of QA experts across Sindh’s public and private sector universities. Sindh HEC, with the support of Resource Persons and QA experts, has developed training material for the purpose of imparting relevant knowledge and information and assisting in capacity building in quality assurance. The materials were created by the experts with wide international exposure in an effort to provide the QA professionals with guidance and aid in strengthening their own capacity for quality assurance at their HEIs.
Towards this end, on February 1-3, 2023, the quality assurance (QA) professionals from public and private sector universities in Sindh gathered at the Pearl Continental Hotel for a three-day workshop hosted by the Sindh Higher Education Commission (Sindh HEC). This event drew a lot of attention and passion, with over 100 QA professionals from public and private universities showing up and attending. Prominent experts, specialists, and guest speakers included Mr. Nasir Shah (DG of QAA, HEC Pakistan), Mr. Agha Mohammad Raza (Director QAA, HEC Pakistan), Mr. Imranullah Marwat (Director QA, HED, KPK), Prof. Dr. Abdul Wahid Usmani (Director QEC, Jinnah Sindh Medical University), and Dr. Hina Hussain Kazmi (CEO TAF Foundation). They discussed the difficulties encountered during the execution of the quality assurance process. This workshop provided a valuable interactive learning opportunity as well as a platform for engaging, networking, and exchanging results and experiences on quality assurance. Certificates were handed to all workshop participants.