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HEC serious about introducing TOEIC
Lahore, Jan 21, 2008: The Higher Education Commission's recommended Test of English for
International Communication (TOEIC) is likely to trigger a controversy when it
is introduced in universities as teachers and students unanimously oppose
it.
The decision to introduce an English language proficiency test was
taken at a meeting of the Quality Assurance Committee of the HEC held recently
at HEC Regional Centre Lahore. The HEC then recommended that TOEIC should be
introduced in universities. According to sources, universities did not give a
positive response. The HEC, however, was very serious about introducing the test
and the poor response did not change its decision.
According to an HEC
press statement issued last week, the committee decided that every university
should ensure capacity building of faculty members. The committee also
recommended that candidates must have cleared TOEIC for appointment as faculty
members by 2008 and graduates must pass this test to receive their degrees by
2009.
The committee advised universities to arrange TOEIC test for
university students and faculty members, saying the HEC will help develop the
test. The committee's decision was communicated to all public sector
universities and degree awarding institutions of Pakistan.
According to
the statement, teachers' role was to disseminate and discover useful knowledge,
develop professional skills and an ethical disposition. The TOEIC might be used
to help improve English communication skills of graduates and teachers, it said.
Teachers and students expressed concern over the
likely introduction of TOEIC in universities, saying the commission should take
them into confidence as they were the real stakeholders in this case.
Punjab University Academic Staff Association President Dr Mumtaz Ahmad
Salik said passing TOEIC for appointment as a teacher was unfair. He said a
teacher's ability to teach, disseminate knowledge and his/her skills in a
particular subject were more important than English language proficiency. He
alleged the HEC wanted to introduce the test just to 'feed' the National Testing
Service (NTS).
"The test introduced by the HEC for students seeking
admission in universities had already made their lives miserable and now it
wants to do the same with those seeking teaching positions," he said. He said
the government should introduce policies at primary level if it was sincere in
improving people's English language skills.
Dr Salik said the ASA and
the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA)
would launch a protest campaign in universities across the country if the
commission forcibly introduced the test.
Azeem, a PU student, said it
was strange that after 2009 students would have to pass TOEIC in order to
receive their degrees.
"I got admission after passing an exam and
clearing NTS test and its strange that now I would have to clear TOEIC to get my
degree," he said. "Why the HEC wants to test people at every stage?"
When
contacted, HEC Executive Director Dr Suhail H Naqvi said the commission had
recommended implementation of the TOEIC keeping in view the poor communication
skills of teachers and students.
He said TOEIC had nothing to do with
the NTS adding no one should object even if the NTS conducts this test because
it was a public organization.
He said that people who study or teach
subjects such as Urdu, Arabic and Persian etc would be exempted from passing
TOEIC for their appointment as teachers or for award of degrees. The News
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| Education News | | Updated: 24 May, 2012 |
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