Editor’s Note: A general discussion page on the GRE requirement introduced by the HEC exists here.
In 2005, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan imposed the requirement of clearing the GRE Subject Test prior to admission in the PhD programs. Students who were enrolled in the PhD programs at the time were required to clear the GRE Subject Test before submission of their theses. This article discusses the interpretation of the word “clear” used by the HEC , the fairness of this criteria, and the deficiencies in policies regarding the GRE Subject Test. We conclude that by imposing this requirement, HEC has created problems for students living far from big cities, those who do not have access to credit or debit cards, and those who cannot afford the hefty (approximately, Rs. 14,000) registration fee. In addition, the HEC team seemed unaware of the true mechanism of the GRE Subject Test, and as a result significant confusion exists as to what “clearing” the test really means.
Much of the text is taken from the HEC official letters and the GRE guides and the letters published by ETS.
When Did the HEC Decide?
The 7th meeting of Quality Assurance Committee was held on 19th April, 2005 in the regional office of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Lahore (see [1]). The meeting started with the approval of minutes of the last meeting of the Committee. The minutes were approved and the explanation of “international” with the Subject GRE Test used in the draft. It was explained to the members of the committee that word “international” is placed with the GRE Subject Test to draw a distinction between the GRE Type Test which is locally designed and already in practice, and the standard GRE Test which is universally available for certain disciplines. The majority of the members and the chairman of the committee did not agree with the word “international” with Subject GRE as it does not exist in international nomenclature of the test. At last the members of the committee decided;
The word “international” will be removed from the Subject GRE-Test as Quality criteria of PhD level studies and it will be written as Subject GRE-Test, where available* with clarification at the bottom that local test will be designed for those subjects in which Subject GRE-Test is not available.
What should be a qualifying criterion?
First of all, it is useful to know a bit about the grading terminologies used by Education Testing Service (ETS), USA for GRE Subject Test. Later, we will discuss them in detail:
- Score (or scaled score)
- % Below (or percentile rank)
- Formula score (or raw score)
On May 30th, 2006, Chairman HEC, Prof. Dr. Ata-ur-Rahman issued a letter no. 1-15/Adv(QA&LI) /2006/1394, in which he mentioned;
For admission of new students to Ph.D. as well as for upgradation/conversion of students already admitted in M.Phil to Ph.D., an International GRE (Subject) Test must be qualified (at least 50% score presently which will be increased to 60% after 3 years)
Please note that neither has the ETS yet released any document/method to find a percentage score of GRE test nor does the result card give any information about it. The GRE result card gives information about the score, percentage below (we call it percentile) and formula score.
In 2007, Chairman HEC, Dr. Ata-ur-Rahman wrote a letter [3] to the Vice Chancellors in which he asked:
Could you kindly ensure that no students currently enrolled in the disciplines of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biology, English Literature, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Psychology and allied disciplines are allowed to submit Ph.D theses in your university unless they have obtained at least a 50 percentile score in the respective international subject GRE examination. This is a rather low score presently and it will be increased to 60 percentile score in a couple of years.
In the letter mentioned above (in [3]), Dr. Ata-ur-Rahman used the term percentile score. As mentioned earlier, please again note that this terminology does not exist in the documents of ETS.
In July 2008, Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, the Executive Director of HEC issued a letter [4], in which he mentioned the following criteria:
To “clear” the international GRE subject test the candidates will have to get Percentile Score equal or greater than the minimum Percentile Score which will be as follows:
i. 40% Percentile Score: Valid Until December 31, 2009
ii. 45% Percentile Score: Valid Until December 31, 2010
iii. 50% Percentile Score: Valid thereafter
So, what is a 40% Percentile Score?
If it is to be considered that Percentile Score means ‘percentile rank’ then 40% percentile rank means the 40% of 99 because the maximum percentile rank one can get is 99. Also this letter failed to clear the meaning of the word “Valid Until …”
In October 2009, Mr. Muneer Ahmed, Deputy Director (Quality Assurance), HEC issued a letter [5], to clarify the following:
I am directed to clarify that the qualifying score for the PhD Scholars who appeared in the International GRE Subject Test before 31st July 2008 is 40% (percentile) or 50%(percent) and after 31st July, 2008, percentile formula as conveyed earlier through the letter quoted above ([2] and [4]) will be applicable.
There was no need to say anything about such non-clarification. From the series of letters it is obvious that HEC was and still is facing dilemma about the criteria of clearing GRE.
In January 2010, HEC commission approved that [6]
GRE (International) Subject Test will be necessary at the time of admission to M.Phil/MS Programme leading to Ph.D.
The minimum acceptable scores are as follows:
i. 40% Percentile Score: Valid for Admissions until December 31, 2009
ii. 45% Percentile Score: Valid for Admissions until December 31, 2010
iii. 50% Percentile Score: Valid for Admissions until December 31, 2011.
iv. 60% Percentile Score: Valid for Admissions thereafter.
For presently continuing students (Admissions before January 11, 2010), the candidates must pass the GRE (International) Subject Test before submission of Ph.D. Dissertation. In disciplines where this test is not available, the test will be made available locally by National Testing Service (NTS), and if the Test is not available in NTS subject list, then a University Committee consisting of at least 3 Ph.D. faculty members in the subject area and approved by the HEC will conduct the Test at par with GRE (International) Subject Test.
Please note that the term “Percentile Score” doesn’t exist, it might be % below or percentile rank. Also clause (i) of above para has already been expired with respect to this letter [6] because it has now been imposed as a criterion to get admission in MS/M.Phil. Moreover subjects for which GRE test is not available, parallel to GRE Subject Test; the university commission of at least three PhDs will form their own test. This creates an injustice in many ways like fee, quality of test, checking criteria, and scoring method.
The text of the letter mentioned in [6] is available on the HEC website and it has been modified by the HEC without any intimation (it can be accessed here and old one is included in references). In the new letter, this test is only mandatory to get admission in PhD and also the word “international” with GRE Subject has been removed.
In March 2010, on answering a query from NUST, Rawalpindi, Mr. Muneer Ahmed wrote as follows [7]:
I am directed to inform you that all students enrolled/converted into PhD programme after May 31, 2005 and before July 31, 2008 are required to qualify International GRE Subject Test with 50% (percent) score and students enrolled/converted after July 31, 2008 have to qualify International GRE Subject Test with percentile score as mentioned in letter no. 1-10/(ED)/HEC/2008/961(copy attached)
It is not possible to find the percentage score of GRE Subject Test (see [8, p. 14]) and other thing is that why Mr. Muneer Ahmad didn’t refer to a latest letter[6] issued in January 2010.
In the following table we give the 50 percent score of each subject defined by the HEC as the 50 percent of the total scaled score. Please note that the HEC defined the score at 99 percentile rank in [10, page 14] as a total scaled score.
|
SUBJECT |
Scaled score at 99 percentile rank |
50% of scaled score |
Percentile rank at 50% of scaled score |
| Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology |
760 |
380 |
7 |
| Biology |
940 |
470 |
Between 5 and 7 |
| Chemistry |
920 |
460 |
1 |
| Computer Science |
880 |
440 |
Less than 1 |
| Literature in English |
760 |
330 |
Between 1 and 3 |
| Mathematics |
900 |
450 |
Between 6 and 8 |
| Physics |
990 |
495 |
12 |
| Psychology |
800 |
400 |
3 |
To get the 50 percent score in Chemistry and Computer Science, one has to just appear in GRE Subject Test without answering to any question.
How should we use the GRE, according to ETS, USA?
The “GRE Guide to the Use of Scores 2008-09” gives comprehensive information about the GRE test and is the best booklet to learn about the GRE grading terminologies. It is published by the GRE board. This guide is available on the ETS website; the following sentences/paragraphs are taken from this guide.
- Primary limitations of GRE test
Any GRE test, however, has two primary limitations: (1) it does not and cannot measure all the qualities that are important in predicting success in graduate study or in confirming undergraduate achievement and (2) it is an inexact measure; that is, only score differences that exceed the standard error of measurement of a given score can serve as reliable indications of real differences in academic knowledge and developed abilities [8, p. 5].
- Encouragement of appropriate use.
All users of GRE scores have an obligation to use the scores in accordance with published GRE Board policies and guidelines. Institutions have a responsibility to ensure that all individuals using GRE scores are aware of the GRE Board score-use policies and guidelines and to monitor the use of the scores, correcting instances of misuse when they are identified. The GRE Program staff is available to assist institutions in resolving score-misuse issues. [8, p. 6]
- Use Multiple Criteria
Regardless of the decision to be made, multiple sources of information should be used to ensure fairness and balance the limitations of any single measure of knowledge, skills, or abilities. These sources may include undergraduate grade point average, letters of recommendation, personal statement, samples of academic work, and professional experience related to proposed graduate study. GRE scores should not be used exclusively. [8, p. 6]
- Accept Only Official GRE Score Reports
The only official reports of GRE scores are those issued by Educational Testing Service and sent directly to approved institutions and organizations designated by the test takers. Scores obtained from other sources should not be accepted. [2, p. 6]
To ensure the authenticity of scores, the GRE Board urges that institutions accept only official reports of GRE scores received directly from ETS. [8, p. 9]
- Avoid Decisions Based on Small Score Differences
Small differences in GRE scores (as defined by the standard error of measurement) should not be used to make distinctions among examinees. Standard errors of measurement (SEMs) vary by test and are available in this publication. [8, p. 7]
- Minority Examinees (Students outside of USA)
GRE scores, like those on similar standardized tests, cannot completely represent the potential of any person, nor can they alone reflect an individual’s chances of long-term success in an academic environment. It should be remembered that the GRE tests provide measures of certain types of developed abilities and achievement, reflecting educational and cultural experience over a long period. Special care is required in interpreting the GRE scores of students who may have had educational and cultural experiences somewhat different from those of the traditional majority. [8, p. 8]
- Confidentiality and Authenticity of GRE Scores
GRE scores are confidential and are not to be released by an institutional recipient without the explicit permission of the examinee. GRE scores are not to be included in academic transcripts. Dissemination of score records should be kept at a minimum, and all staff who have access to them should be explicitly advised of the confidential nature of the scores. [8, p. 9]
Different types of scores
It is also useful to reiterate that there are three types of grading system in GRE subject.
- Score (or scaled score)
- % Below (or percentile rank)
- Formula score (or raw score)
[ Cutout: Report of Scores ]
The range of scaled scores is from 200 to 990, in 10-points increments, although the score range for any particular Subject Test is usually smaller [2, page 11]. Scaled score is a basic analogy to compare two examinees.
Scaled scores on the same Subject Tests generally are directly comparable across years. A Chemistry Test score of 650 in 2007, for example, should be considered equivalent to a Chemistry Test score of 650 earned in 2006. [8, p. 11]
Percentile rank means the percentage of examinees in a group who obtained scores lower than specified score [9]. Percentile ranks of two examinees cannot be comparable for two different tests on same subject, while score is comparable for same subject test but not for different.
Subject Test scores should be compared only with other scores on the same Subject Tests (for example, a 680 on the Physics Test is not equivalent to a 680 on the Chemistry Test). Percentile ranks should be compared only if they are based on the same reference population. [8, p.7]
ETS writes the following about Score and Percentile rank.
Note that although a score represents the same level of ability regardless of when the score was earned, its percentile rank may vary, depending on the scores of the group with which it is compared [9].
Percentile ranks shown on score reports are based on the performance of the current reference group for each test regardless of when the scores were earned. The percentile rank for any score may vary over the years depending on the scores of the group with which the score is compared. Thus, when two or more applicants are being compared, the comparison should be made on the basis of their respective scores.[8, p. 9]
At the score of 700 in Computer Science there is a 42 percentile rank for the performance of the all examinees who were tested between July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2007 (see [8, p. 14]) and 40 percentile for the performance of all examinees who tested between July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2006 (See [10, p. 14])
One can find the following about percentile rank by flipping the “Report of Scores*”.
The percentile ranks in this report indicate the percentage of examinees who scored below your score. Note that these percentile ranks may be different from those that applied when the score were originally reported to you if the scores were earned prior to July 2009. This reflects annual updating of these data to permit admission officers to compare scores, whenever earned, with those for a recent reference group.
Formula score is the number of correct responses* minus one-fourth the number of incorrect responses rounded to the nearest whole number. The maximum formula score depends upon the total numbers of MCQs in the test.
* Result card sent by ETS, USA to the examinee or score recipient.
** Here “responses” mean questions which are usually multiple choices.
Is it an international test?
It should be remembered that the GRE tests provide measures of certain types of developed abilities and achievement, reflecting educational and cultural experience over a long period. Special care is required in interpreting the GRE scores of students who may have had educational and cultural experiences somewhat different from those of the traditional majority. [8, p. 8]
HEC officials are saying it an “international” test but the facts are against it. In the following table the number of examinees, all over the world, are given who took test between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2007 [8, p.14].
|
SUBJECT |
No. of examinees in 3 year |
No. of examinees in one year |
| Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology |
6,252 |
2084 |
| Biology |
12,405 |
4135 |
| Chemistry |
8,392 |
2797 |
| Computer Science |
5,612 |
1870 |
| Literature in English |
10,920 |
3640 |
| Mathematics |
9,848 |
3283 |
| Physics |
12,962 |
4321 |
| Psychology |
25,693 |
8564 |
Please note that computer science is one of the biggest fields of study and only 1870 examinees took the GRE Subject Test in a year.
General Rules for PhD Scholars
If someone gets the admission in PhD, then generally he/she has to fulfill the following requirements to get the PhD degree (no doubt, these are major requirements).
- Approval of Research Proposal or Synopsis (before or after the admission)
- Course work (not compulsory all over the world)
- Research paper (not compulsory in some countries but compulsory in Pakistan.)
- Thesis writing
- Defense of the thesis
If the thesis of some Pakistani PhD scholar is ready for submission then he cannot submit his thesis because of the extra imposed condition of GRE Subject Test, which is usually used as a recommended test (but not required) to get admission in the few universities of USA (see number of examinees per year as a proof). Also this shows that research paper(s) and thesis of the PhD scholar have no worth and no quality without this test.
It is also strange that if the PhD scholar has qualified GRE Subject Test then all the work (research) done under the supervision of such person (supervisor), who is usually non-qualified in GRE Subject Test, attains HEC quality standard.
Taking the GRE Subject test and other information
If someone decides to take GRE Subject Test, then the only way is online registration through ETS website by using online payment mode (by Credit or Debit card).
- Test Fee: 160 US Dollars (Rs. 14000 approx.)
- Duration: 2 hours and 50 minutes
- Conducted thrice a year (in April, October, November)
- Centers (Pakistan): Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore
- Limited number of seats in every center.
- Result announcement after 40 days of the test date.
Conclusions
- The GRE Subject Test spans 2 hours and 50 minutes, at the price of US$ 160 (approximately Rs. 14,000). It is not affordable for a majority of the students and this heavy cost puts real extra burden on these students. In fact, many good students, who would easily pass it, hesitate to take the GRE Subject Test because of its huge fee.
- Percentile rank is best to compare the students of same subject in the same test (in which they appeared) but it is not recommended to be used as a tool for making merit.
- ETS recommends the use of “Scaled Score” for comparing the ability of students as they appear in the test at different schedule (three times in a year).
- This test is not generally meant to be used for the students and institutions outside the United States.
- Most public sector universities in Pakistan are not score recipients of ETS and it is very easy to use fake result cards to get admission, and the ETS never confirms the result to institutions if they are not score recipients.
- It is very difficult to register for the test because many students don’t have Credit or Debit cards for payment through the internet.
- Pakistan is a very big country and this test is conducted only in three cities, with limited number of seats at each location. This is really creating a big problem for the students living far from these cities.
- The number of examinees per year clearly indicates the popularity of the test. For example, 1870 students in the subject of Computer Science and 2797 students in the subject of Chemistry appeared in a year all over the world.
- Percentile rank actually is a comparison of the students of certain group taking GRE Subject Test in a period of last three years with respect to the test date. In eight subjects, Pakistani students are compared against a small community of students from all over the world, and for the remaining subjects the criteria is totally different.
- The HEC team was unaware of the true mechanism of the GRE Subject Test. Yet, they decided that a PhD scholar must appear in this test, just to meet international standards no matter what he/she will score.
- There are a lot of deficiencies in the HEC letters regarding GRE Subject Test. Against the decision of 7th meeting of Quality Assurance Committee of HEC, the HEC officials are still communicating it as an international test.
- All the grading terminologies used by the HEC don’t match with the ETS standard terminologies.This clearly shows that HEC officials are unaware of the objective and mechanism of the GRE Subject Test.
References
[1] Minutes of the 7th meeting of Quality Assurance Committee dated 19th April, 2005
[2] No 1-15/Adv(QA&LI) /2006/1394 dated May 30, 2006
[3] No. 4-7/CHR/HEC/07/807 dated April 3, 2007
[4] No. 1-10/(ED)/HEC/2008/96/ dated July 14, 2008
[5] No. 1-G/DD-QA/HEC/2009/45 dated October 23, 2009
[6] No. 4-7/CHR/HEC/2010/06 dated January 11, 2010
[7] DD/QA/HEC/NUST/2010/224 dated March 05, 2010
[8] GRE Guide to the Use of Scores 2008-09
[9] Interpreting Your GRE® Scores (2008-09)
[10] GRE Guide to the Use of Scores 2007-08
All the references can be downloaded from here.
Atiq-ur-Rehman is a PhD scholar at the Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan. His areas of research are difference and functional equations, real functions, inequalities in monotonic, and convex functions and he has 8 research papers. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of STEP.
HEC’s policy seems to be an imperfect solution in a difficult solution. I would be curious to know what the author’s recommendation would be for a solution to enforcing the abysmal standard of PhD graduates from Pakistani universities.
An excellent analysis of the poor state of affairs created by HEC through this seemingly absurd policy; my compliments to the author for the initiative. It is perfectly understandable that HEC would like to achieve better standards for the local PhD program. But please remember that at the country level, this would practically be achieved only gradually; and that too by first focussing on improving the quality of the faculty. In my view, the GRE Subject test should not be made a compulsion, considering that it is not so in major world universities too. The HEC requirement to publish research papers in reputed international journals should suffice to ensure quality PhD research.
Excellent work done… This shows the level of our policy makers. Thought HEC authorities implemented this criteria but even they did not know the exact criteria. HEC authorities wasted the time of student for three year by regularly changing the criteria and after this they demand quality research???
Very good analysis. I want to add some more things
1-In every letter of HEC you can see that the socalled “clear the GRE” criteria is increased. But how did HEC sure that after every year results will be improved??
2-Why does HEC insist on GRE Test(is there some relations with ETS?). ETS has been criticized for being a “highly competitive business operation that is as much multinational monopoly as nonprofit institution”.[1]
3-For criteria of admission in PhD in some countries please see [2].
4-It seems that policy makers themselves are not clear about GRE test.(I think many of them have not appeared this test.)
[1]http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/30/us/testing-giant-exceeds-roots-drawing-business-rivals-ire.html?n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fE%2fEducational%20Testing%20Service
[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophy
1.After reading all this, i come to know that HEC dont know very well that , what should be the criteria, Percentile rank or percentage.
2. If HEC wants that there should be a proper standard test for admission in P.HD, then they must have to do a lot of research to decide the international standards keeping in mind the the system of Pakistani educational atmosphere.
3. If HEC still wants to impose GRE international, then first of all the should mentioned the criteria very clearly. Secondly HEC should pay the GRE Registration for each candidate or they should replace GRE international with local GRE. This is wrong thinking to impose a very huge registration fee for many brilliant students, who cannot afford the fee.
4. Some time i feel that HEC is doing a business with ETS.
5.If a student did M.Sc , M.Phil from HEC recognized universities, then why HEC is not accepting his education by imposing GRE test.
6. HEC should improve the quality of education in the universities under it instead of making GRE business type test after completing education in HEC approved universities.
7. Ph.d degree is totally research based. So the only criteria for PH.D should be the quality research.
I think they meant “% below” when they said percentage, practically correct criteria will be applied, although I agree that it should be correctly stated.
HEC is doing business with NTS … which is prohibitively expensive given its inverse correlation to psychometric ability testing. ETS is a really good choice.
Why are Pakistani’s are afraid to appraise their abilities in an unbiased way?
Mr.atiq, you give a very informative analysis. I understand lot of things about this issue after reading your article. I am also agree with Nasir’s suggestion. I pray that May HEC change the GRE Criteria.
Thank you Saleem. No doubt Atiq’s article is very informative. But I suggest him that he should think how these problems can be solved for the sake of Pakistani students. In my view, the only solution is to make improvements in lower level.
I think HEC should organize a local test equivalent to GRE International.
good analysis…i wana ask HEC authorities that
1).if a person is unable to achieve required percentile score but have done good research in the selected field then what HEC will do with him….?seems that HEC will not accept his/her degree :-).HEC will do what with those scholars who are unable to qualify GRE even in more than one attempt but have done with their Thesis, Research papers, comprehensive exam????????
2).if a person has achieved required percentile score but is unable to do good research in the selected field then what HEC will do with him….? seems that HEC will give him a PhD degree :-)
3). HEC gives stipend of amount Rs 13000 per month to HEC sponsored scholars in pakistan and one time Registration fee for the GRE test is $160( approx. 14000 can be more than 14000)…again the situation is very funny and needs attenetion…
and of course in PhD end of the story is good research not a very high percentile score in a GRE type test????????so why all university personnel are silent..why all good researchers of country are kinda KHAMOSH TAMASHAIII
Yes, very funny situation.
Seems that HEC make PH.D equivalent to GRE but not to very good research.
Why all the Universities are silent?????????????????????
Before jumping on the Anti-GRE bandwagon, we should keep in mind that GRE is only a qualifying requirement and one still requires to complete a dissertation to get a PHD.
In USA, most universities conduct their own qualifying exams which thoroughly cover the major subject of the phd candidate. This exam usually takes place in the first two years of post graduate work. If a student does not pass the qualifying exam, then he/she can not become a doctoral student regardless of the quality of his/her research.
The problem in Pakistan is that it is very difficult to ensure the integrity of qualifying exams so GRE subject serves that purpose. The author has raised some good points about the problems with GRE, but no good alternatives have been presented. Given that the passing score requirement by HEC is very low, GRE subject is a good initial qualification barrier in my opinion.
Universities should conduct their own qualifying exams which thoroughly cover the major subject of the phd candidate
I suggest all of you to please come in contact with each other through telephone numbers so that we could make a group and discuss the matter with higher authorities of HEC. Because this is our right to let them aware of the fact and to convince them about the pros n cons of the present or past policies of the HEC.
Let us have the AGENDA in place.
AGENDA:
1) GRE Subjective / NTS Subjective requirements.
2) What should be the criteria /time frame for the present or future students to submit the GRE/NTS Subjective (if HEC still feels the importance of GRE / NTS Subjective for the accredited degree of PH.D)
In my opinion, HEC will never be agreed to remove the requirement of NTS/GRE Subjective for the PHD degree. So AGENDA (1) will always be there as a prerequisite for the PHD degree. We should at least convince the HEC to get reluctant for those students who are enrolled in PHD (course work/research) or for those who want to get admission in PH.D.
In the new policy statement by HEC 2010 state as follows.
d. Only in the case of PhD students admitted prior to January 1, 2011 the students must attempt and pass the GAT Subject or GRE Subject in the first two consecutive offerings of the test.
In my opinion for AGENDA (2) the deadline to submit the GRE/NTS should be before the dissertation or award of degree and there should be no deadline for that.
A.Sami/Ph.D-Student/mr.engineer.sam@gmail.com/03218755091
After reading all above, It is obvious that there are many big laps in HEC policies. In my view, the reason is that HEC do not involve the present teaching faculties of the University departments to make any rule. A person who is not involved currently in teaching faculty, cannot understand this problem. I think HEC should invite all the teachers from the related departments of the universities in order to make policies regarding to education.
HEC just impose the rules without consulting all the university authorities.
but important thing is that what is needed to be done and what can we do???8 subjects to pass GRE INTERNATIONAL (which is too much expensive as compared to GAT and there is no comparison between the difficulty level of the TWO) and others have to pass GAT conducted by NTS..its totally unjustice…scholars can go to the court???or they can do something else????????
Thank you very much Mr. Atiq for informative article on the subject. You have referred to my two letters which are issued with the approval of authorities. We have now clearly mentioned that percentile score will be required for GRE Subject, initially the percentage was required and that was supposed on the basis of total number of questions in the test on the same pattern as NTS test percentage is derived. Anyways, things are getting better and we are continuously trying our best to improve and enhance quality in Higher Education. I would appreciate if you can discuss other issues as well i.e. incompetency of scholars of writing a single application, describing basic concepts of their major discipline, motivating and inspiring about their field of study. We even are spiritless in a sense that no one will say that they are doing PhD for nation development but all are focussing on personal development. There is no defined workload in Universities, mostly teachers are not given opportunities of professional development. HEC is passing through a development phase, don’t forget it was born on 2002 and has achieved expected maturity. Look at the other organization, where you will not find facilitating working style as HEC has. Faculty, Students and we all are part of Higher Education, let us collectively take responsibility and put our best efforts for development of Quality research culture. You may suggest what else can be incorporated in these criteria/guidelines to improve the standard of education. My email address is muahmed@hec.gov.pk
I suggest the following things to improve the standard of education.
1. The improvements should start from lower levels of education.
2. The GRE condition should be omitted for the requirement of Ph.d degree because it is a wastage of time in the sense that it stops the students to do research. In research field every student have a habit to think deeply about every thing. A student having this habit, cannot perform well in GRE . The ph.d is totally research based activity. So GRE type activities make tired a research student by loosing his energy to research.
3. If Necessary, HEC should should start his own test instead of GRE international (ETS). All the authorities have to sit down to decide seriously that , which type of test it should be.
4. Doing good research is not an essay task, it takes years and years. But HEC do not give any preference to research. I think HEC should give attentions to improve the research based activities. Still in many Universities, supervisors are not available for ph.d students. If some body exist, then he have to take lot of students under his supervision. This thing upset the research atmosphere and most of the time students cannot do a good research. These are the things where HEC (student, university authorities and HEC authorities) have to pay full attention.
Thanks, your suggestions will be shared at appropriate level.
Dear Sir,
I would like to comment on your following statements.
“We have now clearly mentioned that percentile score … same pattern as NTS test percentage is derived”
And this clarification is done in THREE YEARS and this became possible with the help of students. As this test is compared with NTS test it means authorities were unfamiliar with the GRE subject Test.
“HEC is passing through a development phase, don’t forget it was born on 2002 and has achieved expected maturity”
HEC is not a so big institution that it requires many year to come on maturity level and HEC is not a new department it is extension of UGC, further more it is run by INTELLECTUAL not by politician. The way of Intellectual is that first they plan, make homework and then they implement the rule but we note that HEC is blindly implement rule (not only concerning with GRE but also many others too).
“We even are spiritless in a sense … focusing on personal development”
This is not just the behavior of Scholars or Teachers but this is the behavior of the NATIONS, and as part of nation Scholars are doing the same.
“Faculty, Students and we all are part of Higher Education… Quality research culture”
If all are part of HEC, Did HEC have debate over Quality Education issues with students and Teachers. HEC just invite VC’s who are inactive both in teaching and research.
Thanks.
Dear Sir…i Want to ask few things
1).HEC has changed Criteria Recently…now studnts enrolled till 31 july 2008 have to achieve 50 % score and after this date scolars have to achieve score in percentile.My date of Enrollment in PhD is 1 august 2008…its totally injustice…
Before setting up a Criteia at least the Decision Making Authorities should collect data from Universities…so there should be no injustice like this.
2). HEC has given scholarships to students and then after a few years NOW HEC is Setting up CRiteria for a quality PHD???…all things should be clarified and predefined before launching a scheme….if HEC recognozed Universities are not capable to produce quality Research then why HEC allows Universities to Launch and advertise an MPHIL or PhD program??????????? and after all, students have done their masters from these universities so if students of HEC recognized universities are unable to do quality research then can they qualify a STANDARD test like GRE INTERNATIONAL SUBJECT condutced by ETS…in Pakistan even universities dnt have same curriculum…contents varies form university to university….so how can we comaper our students with international students?????????
Sorry to say HEC even dont know what needs to be planned, when to plan and how to plan…
3). whatever the situation is HEC authorities are unable to justify the condition of GRE that students of few disciplines have to qualify GRE INternational (Subject)while rest has to qualify locally conducted tests by NTS.. If MOST universities are unable to provide standardized QUALIFYING EXAM for Phd then how can HEC allows universities to conduct local tests for disciplines in which GRE international is not Available?????
and students are not making lame excuses they have right to say..
Dear Sir…i Want to ask few things
1).HEC has changed Criteria Recently…now studnts enrolled till 31 july 2008 have to achieve 50 % score and after this date scolars have to achieve score in percentile.My date of Enrollment in PhD is 1 august 2008…its totally injustice…
Before setting up a Criteia at least the Decision Making Authorities should collect data from Universities…so there should be no injustice like this.
2). HEC has given scholarships to students and then after a few years NOW HEC is Setting up CRiteria for a quality PHD???…all things should be clarified and predefined before launching a scheme….if HEC recognozed Universities are not capable to produce quality Research then why HEC allows Universities to Launch and advertise an MPHIL or PhD program??????????? and after all, students have done their masters from these universities so if students of HEC recognized universities are unable to do quality research then can they qualify a STANDARD test like GRE INTERNATIONAL SUBJECT condutced by ETS…in Pakistan even universities dnt have same curriculum…contents varies form university to university….so how can we comaper our students with international students?????????
Sorry to say HEC even dont know what needs to be planned, when to plan and how to plan…
3). whatever the situation is HEC authorities are unable to justify the condition of GRE that students of few disciplines have to qualify GRE INternational (Subject)while rest has to qualify locally conducted tests by NTS.. If MOST universities are unable to provide standardized QUALIFYING EXAM for Phd then how can HEC allows universities to conduct local tests for disciplines in which GRE international is not Available?????
and students are not making lame excuses they have right to say
Thanx Mr Atiq, it is really apprecible that so thorrow analysis of GRE test, Our higher authorities should take notice of so serious problem and should try to solve this problem
There is going on an amazing situation, the HEC has created a hurdle against those students who are interested to get higher educations. to I think this is not a good and right criteria for selection the research scholars. it is the way to discourage the needy people who want to do their Ph.D. so the hec should take serious step in this regard and to remove these conditions from the students
There is going on an amazing situation, the HEC has created a hurdle against those students who are interested to get higher educations. I think this is not a good and right criteria for selection the research scholars. it is the way to discourage the needy people who want to do their Ph.D. so the hec should take serious step in this regard and to remove these conditions from the students
The cost and duration of GRE exam do not undermine its utility.
HEC has been using a horrible alternative … NTS, which is a money making machine and fakes exams. That is worse than paying high cost of GRE.
A tree scheme where chosen student’s are paid for by HEC to take the exam and everybody else can challenge that by putting his money where his mouth is, will resolve pretty much all the objections you have against GRE Exams.
HEC needs to make sure that scores are interpreted as prescribed by ETS (personally I think they do, and most of the things the author has caught are typos … they meant the “% below” score written on exam).
HEC should be the recipient and not the universities, so the exam scores cannot be faked! [And I think that is how it is]
Let us not be afraid of standardized testing! (I do not consider ill designed and un-verified randomly designed exams by NTS as standardized exams)
This is very sad situation that the people who are candidates for the highest degree (PhD) in a certain field, are afraid of appearing for a graduate level test (GRE) of the same field. In addition most of them are criticising HEC for asking them to clear this entry level test and are constantly giving lame excuses in their favour. Really Shameful!
How a student can pay 14000 Rs for this test. Why we are filling the pockets of ETS. Why students are forced to pay 14000 Rs for this exam? Is it not good that HEC should organize his own test? Is HEC not capable of organizing such test? Why research students are forced to stop their research?
Dear Ahmad!
First thing, It seems that you didn’t read the article. Other thing is that you are also thinking that student just appear in this exam, no matter what he/she score, like for computer science and chemistry, to get 50 percent score, just pay Rs. 14000/- as registration fee, sit in the exam and do nothing, give the empty answer sheet and get the result of 50 percent score just to submit as a Ph.D. requirement. I think, we need to understand “WHY WE NEED GRE EXAM FOR PHD SCHOLARS?”
Dear brother,I think you are not appeared in the test yet, but i have appeared in the test and got the score more than the requirements of HEC. But I am not in the favor of it because it is not good to judge the abilities of our students. I have many examples of the students those are very intelligent but they did not clear the test.Whats it mean? Do you think that they are incapable of doing this. No dear money is a big problem for students at this stage. One more thing do you think that it is ethically good that a student having admission in a university is forced to clear the GRE when he is near the completion of his degree. Do you think we should not rectify the things if they are imposed in such a wrong manner. I believe that there should be admission test but not in this way. If you sincerely read the report and analyse the things, I think you will really find that it (GRE test) is a big mistake by HEC. You can find admission criteria for PhD in different countries.
Most top tier universities use GRE (General) only as an initial screening criterion. So if you have scored more than the threshold, your application will proceed otherwise not. It does not matter much how ‘high’ you scored in GRE (General) (unless you are somewhere in the 99th percentile…it might cover some deficiency in other areas of your application)
For Ph.D. students, the faculty is more interested in judging your potential for research which they find out in Qualifying exams. GRE (Subject) is not designed to judge research potential. Hence, once someone has been accepted into a Ph.D. program, there should be other tools and methods to check his/her potential for research and progress. If some university/department is unable to put up a system that does this, it should not be allowed to induct students in the Ph.D. program
Very good analysis about that problem of GRE.
First of all i am unable to understand why HEC is imposing the condition of GRE on Ph.D students because the Ph.D students have to do research and there is no link of GRE with research.
On the other hand when a student is going to prepare for GRE it means his time for research is being wasted. Also the fee of GRE is very
high that not every one can afford. HEC must think about to change the criteria. Or if HEC remove this condition may be students can produce better research.
Good analysis.
I agree that there were many ambiguities in the interpretation of subject GRE test by HEC. I also agree that this test is not the only tool to measure the abilities whether one can excel in research or not.
Since this criteria is now imposed, so the best policy is to keep calm and pass the exam. I want to suggest those student who have a long list of research papers that they should prepare for the test and crack it.
Mr. Usman Ali, the best policy is not to be calm. We should not think only about ourself. We should think for all the Pakistani students. Every body should avoid from the selfishness.
Imposing International GRE as admission and research travel grant requirement means to stop the higher education for pakistani students. So HEC Authorities should rethink about it.
Congrats khurram on winning the blog award. Keep it up.
Respected Sir
It is humbly stated that while before making a decision of iposing subject gre test on all pakistani Ph.D scholars specially in eight discipline is toyally injustice. Ph.D students already are passing through very tensive study and of high research.
While imposing GRE subject test for Ph.D Students mean “Approval of synopsis”, “Thesis” and “Defense” are all have no worth in Pakistan. Because these are the main, important and strong requirements for Ph.D degree and if HEC cannot assure quality of these things then even you put GRE condition or and other extra ordinary test, these are worthless.
After reading the General requirements for Ph.D scholars in Pakistan, I feel that the Pakistani Ph.D degree is the most difficult degree of the world to attain… unbelievable…
I suggest the Pakistani students that if they want to do Ph.D then choose country other than Pakistan. (no value of Pakistani Ph.D degree and lot of requirements)
I was reading the article of Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy titled “Pakistan’s Universities: The New War Within” (you can search for it at google).
“There is nothing particularly difficult about these international tests. As some readers may know, they are pitched at the bachelor’s level (i.e. 16-years of education). Chinese, Indian and Iranian students easily score in the 80-90 percentile range. American universities use them as entrance requirements, with medium-quality universities requiring results in the 70-80 range and the very good ones in the 80-95 range.”
I don’t know what is the source of his this arguments but this surely revealed that Professor Hoodbhoy does not know the meaning of percentile. “It means 70 percent of the students have less marks than Chinese, Indian and Iranian” I don’t think so that percentile is meant to compare nations. The the other things is Chinese and Indian are not in the same reference group as we are. Percentile is a comparison of students in a certain reference group, it is not some type of general scoring method.
I think if majority of students are against GRE then i think there is some serious issue and that includes those students too who have cleared GRE exam.
I totally agree that GRE is not the best criteria to judge the abilities of a students that i am saying after looking very closely the the results of many students in last 3 years. I have a big question mark on the credibility of this test.
Students are not against HEC they are just against one bad condition imposed on students. There is another condition which everybody has accepted that paper should be accepted in ISI journal most people are not against this condition because this is intended to improve quality of research but GRE is good for nothing in my opinion.
I read all the comments written above. Though i have passed the GRE exam (according to the HEC criteria) but in my personal opinion, GRE should not be the criteria to judge the ability of a student. Imposing GRE one cannot guarantee the improvement in research. HEC should work for other things to improve the quality because “GRE is good for nothing” as stated by M.K Shafiq.
Number of students cannot got access to scholarships due to lack of infromations. So there should be organized system for informing the students about GRE and its benefits.
there should be proper system for informing the students about how to apply for Scholarships
Have you tried their website: http://www.hec.gov.pk?
I have some suggestion about this matter
1:HEC should ordered all the higher authorities in all disciplines to be registered for the GRE exam(ETS). The persons who cannot get the 50 percentile, should be suspended from their Jobs.
2: HEC should ordered all the Ph.D holders to be appear in the GRE exam (ETS) and those ph.D holders who cannot get 50 percentile, their degrees should be cancelled.
I request to HEC authorities to impose this law.
In today’s Jun 16 “The News”, it was written that there was no PhD student has been admitted to the Quaid-e-Azam university in the past six months because of the GRE condition. It is very strange. I was wonder why is this happening? but this article revealed the reason behind. In my opinion, this is a very good article written on the subject. Author didn’t give any alternative but HEC have to think over it. But unfortunately Pakistani institutions work like dictators, HEC is the one of them and it is ruining the Pakistan.
:-(
I think if HEC wants to improve the quality of higher education then it should also be necessary for the University teachers to pass GRE subject test with 70 percentile.
Also the condition for GRE subject test should be implemented after M.Sc. or MA for those who are qualifying M.Phil. or MS, Whether for research degree like PHD where scholars already suffer lot of problems.
Congrates to the writer for such a comprehensive analysis of the GRE Subject test. i think GRE Subject test is necessary for all subjects. it should be also a criteria for the university teachers. All the universities have to include the courses, in which the GRE Subject test of every subject is to be conducted, in MS. it will enable the students to pass GRE Subjects in good marks. Any way it’s a good test, but universities have to prepare their students for it.
Besides, the GRE Subject should also be a necessary condition for the foreigner students, just like the PMDC, which is necessary for the foreigner medical degree holders. why they are exempted?
I have another complain, the subject statistics is always ignored in all the higher education programmes.
No statististician finds any scholarship for PhD or MPhil.
Yesterday! I was seeing the website of NTS (nts.org.pk), I have seen that NTS announced a GAT subject test in which physics, chemistry and mathematics were included but today when I have visited again NTS website, these subjects was removed from the list.
What is this? I am unable to understand.
Thanks for information about GRE,
I think the problem is that we all the pakistani including politics prof. student and etc impress the other like amercan British. we have no confidence what we are doing. we think that other are better than us. why we not improve our institute,we pay huge amount to other.
A good article but this is a usual things in Pakistan, If you see the official documents of any department in Pakistan, you will find the same things as written in this article, contradictions!
In today’s The New the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) has announced opposing the Higher Education Commission’s decision to verify degrees of faculty members until the body’s demands deferment of new eligibility criteria was met.
Read more about here ( http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=247277 )
I think, after one year the HEC will be in great threat or trouble because the students and teachers, who are victim of HEC policies will openly come in front of HEC.
I don’t know, HEC know about this article or not.
Here is the latest news about Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA).
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=248357
Its very detailed and eye opener analysis . I fully agree with Omar’s view that University teachers should also clear the GRE Test.
All this depict that our PHD degree has no value and GRE int. test is more value able. if GRE is superior than PHD, Why one should do PHD. HEC should award PHD degree to a person who clears the GRE int.
HEC higher authorities should think why they are compelling poor students of pakistan to pay money to other forgien authorities. Is there no one such an intellectual professor/institution in pakistan who can prepare GRE test Q.at reaon charges, very sad….. why we follow others, and degrades our degrees, when we will be stand on our footings. Many countries got Independence later than us and they are rising as Asian tigers by utilizing policies made by our experts but we are lagging behind day by day. “JAG PAKISTANI STUDENT JAG AND MAKE A NAME IN THE WORLD”
I think HEC should say no faculty will be university till they pass GRE subjective or they should stop this bustard thing on following points
1. no job surity on GRE score
2.no usefullness in fresh job on GRE score bases
Academic Staff Association, of the Quaid-i-Azam University has rejected the NTS and GRE and hopefully this condition will also be removed from Syndicate. This article clearly show, what the hell this GRE is…(not the test but its use by HEC)
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=253296
:-)
It is a good decision by QAU.
Dear Attiq ur Rehman
HEC letter no 1-3/DD-QA/HEC/GEN/2010/282 dated 22/04/2010 showing 99% scaled score 980 of any subject and 50% of which is 490. I got 460 marks in chemistry in GRE subject test in 2006. According to above table I have qualified for PhD admission. Now University and HEC both need proof of total scaled score of 920 in chemistry whom 50% is 460.Please help in finding proof that chemistry scaled score is 920.
HEC removes GRE condition for Ph.D.
It will be beneficial for scholars that they will focus at their research.
http://www.nation.com.pk/E-Paper/Islamabad/2010-08-01/page-13
I think that HEC does’nt even know about a PHD degree,
Actually PHD degree is meant for Research, not for “48 CREDITS”
course and A Stupid GRE Subject condition…
In my opinion HEC wants to discourage PHD in Pakistan…
Still Institutes have not been informed about the cancellation of GRE.
According to my opinion Subjective NTS criteria is not a suitable for testing abilities of the Ph.d students.If we talk about the cources which are mentioned for the this test are not appropriate for example if you see the cources of Statistics you find that subjects are repeated like 1. Probability distribution 2. Probability and Probability distribution 3. Regression 4. Regression Analysis etc. How any one can discriminate all these subjects and marks also divided as 7% each so this is totaly nonsence criteria. Suppose if a student accept this criteria and after getting admission in Ph.d then why he again appeare in comprehensive test which is also similar to NTS so I also say that HEC wants to dicourging Ph.d students through this suspicious creteria….
no ph.d student was admitted to qau in 6 mmontths…so much for being the top university of pakistan..hahahahahahaha….
Great work by Atiq ur Rehman for unfolding the impediments in the HEC Quality Assurance programs for Higher Eduction (doctoral programs) in Pakistan. I must re-phrase the comments of one of the scholars above:
“GRE-TEST HAS NO LINKAGES WHAT-SO-EVER WITH REASEARCH OR DOCTORAL DEGREE PROGRAMME OR EVEN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (as irrationally contested by HEC)”
Mr. Munir Ahmad (HEC)have tried to support the relevance of GRE test on the following assumptions / arguments:
“Incompetency of scholars of writing a single application, describing basic concepts of their major discipline, motivating and inspiring about their field of study”
I believe that HEC should rather focus on secondary education if the objective is improving writing, motivational and inspiring skills of sholars, because PhD scholars are already judged well before a scholar attains a PhD degree.
The HEC has confused itself and others as well, in determining the right policies for Quality Assurance for PhD program. The HEC must realize that there is no relevance and evidence in support for GRE exam (graduate level test) to be forced on PhD scholars. The PhD scholars already have to undergo a series of extensive evaluations which is beyond the level of GRE exam(a low graded and non-effective evaluation criteria for PhD)
Extensive Requirements (logical and Justified ones)for PhD program:
1. Completion of 30 credit hours, out of which 24 credit hours course work and 6 credit hours of reseacrh work (thesis) for admission into Ph.D program.
2. Minimum CGPA 3.00 or First Division in MS/M.Phil/Equivalent Degree for continuing into Ph.D.
3. Additional Ph.D. level course work of at least 18 credit hours.
4. Comprehensive Examination for PhD coursework
5. Open defense of Dissertation for award of PhD degree
6. Acceptance/publication of at least one research paper in an HEC approved “X” category journal for the award of Ph.D. degree (“Y” in case of Social Sciences only).
7. Plagiarism Test on the Dissertation before its submission to the two foreign experts.
8. Ph.D. Dissertation evaluated by at least two Ph.D. experts from technologically/academically advanced foreign countries in addition to local Committee members.
In view of the above requirements for PhD, it would be a shame for the PhD scholars to undergo a graduate level exam like the GRE, which has no connection to research.
I would also like to highlight the discrepancies in the HEC policy documents posted on the HEC website. The HEC experts continue to add unsigned MPhil/PhD requirement policy document on the HEC website with different versions showing approval by the commission on 11th January 2010. I have 3 different versions of HEC PhD policy with myself, showing approval date of 11th January 2010. This has been done overnight again and again to hide the flaws in the actual policy which was approved on January,11,2010. Moreover, all the new requirements introduced in the 11th January 2010 PhD policy has also been implemented (retrospectively)on those admissions before 11th January 2010. This is against the common law of nature and can be simply challenged in the court of law and struck down with the stroke of pen.
Lastly, our friends in HEC may like to consider the following suggestion, if they are really serious in imposing Quality Assurance in higher education in Pakistan:
” Remove the illogical GRE requirement for PhD and instead may consider in increasing the number of international publications for the PhD degree. It would be acceptable to all the PhD scholars who find their competence in research. Such publications would not only increase their professional development but also highlight the potential of research in Pakistan and its greater acceptance worldwide”.
The GRE conditions could never achieve any of the above, however research surely can.
please gave complete information about scope and scholarships for succesful candidates,how many countries accept and awarded scholarships for ph.d
I suggest all of you to please come in contact with each other through telephone numbers so that we could make a group and discuss the matter with higher authorities of HEC. Because this is our right to let them aware of the fact and to convince them about the pros n cons of the present or past policies of the HEC.
Let us have the AGENDA in place.
AGENDA:
1) GRE Subjective / NTS Subjective requirements.
2) What should be the criteria /time frame for the present or future students to submit the GRE/NTS Subjective (if HEC still feels the importance of GRE / NTS Subjective for the accredited degree of PH.D)
In my opinion, HEC will never be agreed to remove the requirement of NTS/GRE Subjective for the PHD degree. So AGENDA (1) will always be there as a prerequisite for the PHD degree. We should at least convince the HEC to get reluctant for those students who are enrolled in PHD (course work/research) or for those who want to get admission in PH.D.
In the new policy statement by HEC 2010 state as follows.
d. Only in the case of PhD students admitted prior to January 1, 2011 the students must attempt and pass the GAT Subject or GRE Subject in the first two consecutive offerings of the test.
In my opinion for AGENDA (2) the deadline to submit the GRE/NTS should be before the dissertation or award of degree and there should be no deadline for that.
A.Sami/Ph.D-Student/mr.engineer.sam@gmail.com/03218755091