The Higher Education Commission’s Quality Assurance Agency hosted a Summit on Quality Assurance of Online and Distance Education at the HEC Secretariat in Islamabad, organised with Sukkur IBA University and international partners under the Erasmus+ CBHE RAPID project funded by the European Commission.
National and international experts, policymakers and academics gathered to discuss aligning online education practices with global standards and to strengthen institutional learning, policy development and international collaboration across Pakistan’s higher education sector.
Nadeem Mahbub, Chairman HEC, described the summit as a pivotal moment to rethink how education is delivered, assessed and assured, stressing that online education must promote equity and broaden access across Pakistan’s diverse and underserved regions. He underlined that technology should enhance quality rather than replace it and reaffirmed HEC’s commitment to bolster digital infrastructure, expand faculty capacity building, enforce policy frameworks and ethically integrate emerging technologies such as AI and virtual reality.
Dr Zia Ul-Qayyum, Executive Director HEC, said the RAPID initiative offers a chance to adapt European best practices to local needs and called for collective ownership by universities, regulators and international partners to build a resilient digital higher education system.
Philipp Gross, Chargé d’Affaires of the European Union Delegation to Pakistan, called the summit a milestone for digital innovation and resilient policy. He emphasised that RAPID focuses on resilience, equity and continuity, noting Pakistan’s global leadership in Erasmus+ and the EU’s commitment to sustained cooperation, faculty training and infrastructure support for remote universities.
Dr Sher Muhammad Doudpota, RAPID Project Coordinator at Sukkur IBA University, highlighted how COVID-19 and generative AI have accelerated the move to online education and urged adoption of robust policies and quality assurance frameworks. Dr Javed Ahmed Shahani reported that the consortium has trained over 400 faculty members through webinars and workshops, supported 45 faculty mobilities to Italy, Sweden and Norway, and is establishing digital infrastructure in Baltistan and Balochistan while a Policy Advisory Committee works to refine the Open and Distance Learning framework.
International technical presentations addressed pedagogical technology, hybrid delivery and remote learning management, with speakers including Dr Nicole Veelo of NTNU, Dr Mexhid Ferati of Linnaeus University, Prof Paolo Bottoni of Sapienza University and a policy presentation by Mr Abaidullah Anwar. National sessions explored implementation challenges and policy gaps with contributions from Prof Dr Nasir Mehmood of Virtual University, Dr Tayyaba Tamim of LUMS and Dr Zubair Khalid of IBA, and a stakeholder engagement panel was moderated by Dr Shakeel Ahmed Khoja of IBA Karachi.
Director General QAA Nasir Shah thanked participants and partners, acknowledging progress in policy and capacity building while noting remaining gaps in infrastructure, curriculum and faculty training. He said the summit’s recommendations will be compiled and shared with the European Commission, partner universities and HEC divisions to inform the refinement of Pakistan’s national policy on online and distance education and to guide actionable reforms.
