The Higher Education Commission (HEC) announced on Saturday that people doing PhD in Pakistan would not be allowed to leave the country for jobs abroad for two years. 

The HEC made this announcement in its new PhD policy, which was released later in the day on January 23. The HEC chairman had announced a number of changes in undergraduate and PhD degrees across Pakistan earlier this week. Per the new policy, there would be no option of two-year BA/BSc and MA/MSc programmes and they would be phased out. A four-year BS programme would be offered instead, he said. 

A more significant policy change however affects the criteria for admission to PhD programmes offered in the country. The minimum requirement for years of study for admission to a PhD programme has been reduced from 18 to 16. The requirement of an MPhil degree for a doctorate degree has been waived. Now students can apply for a PhD programme directly after completing their four-year BS degrees. However, the students who would get admission to a PhD programme after completing their BS degrees would have to put in more credit hours as compared to those holding MPhil degrees.