NAEAC to ensure quality agri education: Tasneem
By Tariq Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD—Chairman, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Dr. M. E. Tusneem, here on Wednesday underlined the need for developing leadership skills amongst the students to enable them cope with future challenges aptly.
He was addressing the first meeting of the newly constituted National Agriculture Education Accreditation Council (NAEAC) here. The Council comprises 22 members including the Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson. The members are selected from the faculties of agriculture universities, agricultural research institutions,provincial agriculture departments and leading agro-industries.
Dr. M.E. Tusneem has been nominated as Chairperson and Mr. Naseer Alam Khan as Secretary of the council. Dr. Tusneem said that the National Agriculture Education Accreditation Council, was aimed at ensuring quality improvement of agriculture education degree awarding programme based on established standards, policies, procedures and criteria. The council would focus on quality assurance as well as quality improvement in higher levels of learning and professional development of graduates for national and international comparison of set standards.
The council would also systematize and execute a comprehensive process of accreditation of the agriculture degree programs, through adopting transparent policies, procedures and criteria and assist and advise institutions in planning their academic programs, he said. Besides, it would support the intellectual development of students and faculty members interested in pursuing agriculture profession par excellence, he added.
He said that all agriculture degree programs would fall under the purview of NAEAC including; Agronomy and Crop Physiology, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural Entomology, Plant Pathology,Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Horticulture, Soil and Environmental Science, Agricultural Economics, Marketing andAgribusiness, Food Science and Technology, Agricultural Education and Extension, Animal Science, Weed Science, Plant Protection and additional emerging disciplines and degree programs pertaining tothe agriculture shall be added in this list in the future. On the occasion, Prof. Dr. Riaz Hussain Qureshi, Advisor Quality Assurances and Learning Initiatives, Higher Education Commission (HEC) said that HEC had taken several initiatives to improve higher education.
The establishment of the Accreditation Councils was a majorstep towards improving the quality education and bring it at par with the international standards, he added. He said that HEC, as per its ordinance, established the“National Agriculture Education Accreditation Council (NAEAC)” in 2006, having representation of experts from agriculturaluniversities and research institutions, leading industries and R&D institutions in public and private sectors. The meeting was also addressed amongst others by Dr. Shahana Urooj Kazmi, Co-chairperson and Naseer Alam Khan, Secretary NAEAC.