Introduction

The Best University Teacher Award (BUTA) is a prestigious recognition established by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to commend outstanding educators and motivate all faculty members to enhance their teaching abilities. It is open to faculty members under BPS, TTS, and contract positions from both public and private universities/DAI's. As of 2018, HEC has conferred a total of 567 Best University Teacher Awards.

In 2019, the framework of the Best University Teacher Award underwent a revision. Additional award criteria, focusing on indicators of effective teaching, were introduced to emphasize the importance of teaching excellence. Since this revision, HEC has granted nine (9) awards until 2022.

Objectives:

Incentive: Encourage faculty members to enhance the quality of their teaching and pedagogy.

Pedagogical: Establish a national consensus on the standards of good teaching.

Capacity Building: Create a national database, accessible to all faculty members, particularly junior faculty, containing syllabuses, grading systems (including tests, exams, quizzes), lesson plans, and lecture slides (PPTs).

Award Procedure:

The HEC BUTA award is divided into two levels:

·         University-Level Best University Teacher Award

·         Universities will directly confer the university-level awards.

Each university's best teacher awards may include a certificate of merit and, if decided by the university Syndicate, a cash award of up to Rs. 200,000/-.

Only winners of university-level awards are eligible to compete in the HEC national-level award competition.

HEC National-Level Best University Teacher Award

HEC will confer one or more national awards to a limited number of recipients, ensuring exclusivity and prestige.

The HEC National Level Best University Teacher Award includes a cash prize of Rs. 1,000,000/- (Rupees ten Lac only) along with a certificate of merit and an award trophy.