14/02/2025
Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has issued revised for Associate, Bachelor, and Master degrees in , developed in collaboration with the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. The National Curriculum Review Committee (NCRC), chaired by Prof. Dr. Amina Zuberi of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, with Mr. Muhammad Ali Baig, Deputy Director at HEC as Secretary, developed the updated curricula. The committee included experts from leading universities of the country.
The revised Associate Degree requires 71 credit hours, while BS Zoology now has 137 credit hours. New major courses include Diversity of Invertebrates, Diversity of Chordates, Animal Ecology, Marine Biology, and Fisheries & Aquaculture, whereas, interdisciplinary additions include Computational Biology, Microbiology & Immunology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Plant Physiology & Ecology, and Biostatistics.
The BS Zoology curriculum also offers specializations in Animal Microbiology, Animal Physiology, Biotechnology, Entomology, Fisheries & Aquaculture, Mammalogy, Marine Biology, Parasitology, and Wildlife Biology. Universities may introduce additional specializations per HEC guidelines. For BS Zoology, a supervised internship and capstone, each of three credits are now mandatory. The MS Zoology curriculum includes a research component and six electives, with course offerings based on faculty expertise and area of specialization.
HEC has advised universities to implement the revised standards promptly to enhance the quality of zoology education in Pakistan. Electronic copy of the revised curricula is available athttps://www.hec.gov.pk/english/services/universities/RevisedCurricula/Documents/2024-2025/Zoology.pdf
