COMSATS INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ATTOCK CAMPUS

HEC Ordinance, 2002 (Overview and Critique)

Submitted To: - Sir Riaz

Group Members: - Ayesha Sarfraz

&

Ayesha Sajjad

Program: - MPA-3

Department: - Management Sciences

Submission Date:- 5th June, 2015

Table of Contents:-

Vision Mission Introduction Brief history Overview Purpose Roles of HEC Reforms in Education by HEC Promotion of Research Achievements of HEC HEC Ordinance, 2002 (Overview) Criticism on HEC Ordinance,2002 Recommendations Conclusion

HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION

Vision:-

"The Higher Education Commission will facilitate Institutions of Higher Learning to serve as

Engines for the Socio-Economic Development of Pakistan.

Mission:-

The ultimate mission of the HEC is “to assist in the building of a modern, progressive and

tolerant society that values the dignity of labor, craftsman, and the spirit of enquiry,

critical and independent thought and public duty. Its goal is to mobilize financial, technical

and social resources for enhancing the quality of educational institutions and for

facilitating the reform process initiated within these institutions.”

Introduction:-

If it is said that present era is the era of knowledge than that will not be wrong. Developed

countries are rapidly progressing in science and technology. And the developing countries are

increasing their budgets of education and specially higher education as they are stepping forward

to the knowledge based economies. As natural resources are of no use unless a nation don’t have

brilliant minds and appropriate policies to utilize them. So the basic motive behind the creation

of HEC was to enhance the facilities of Higher Education for all Pakistani students. In that way

we can convert our economy from “Low Value Added Agricultural Economy” to

“Knowledge Based Economy”.

Brief History:-

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), formerly the University Grant Commission, is the

primary regulator of higher education in Pakistan. In Pakistan, up till 2002, Universities were

recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) which draws its powers from The

University Grants Commission Act, 1974. The Act was repealed in 2002 by the Higher

Education Commission Ordinance, 2002 and since then, Higher Education Commission of

Pakistan (HEC) is responsible for higher education policy, quality assurance, and degree

recognition, development of new institutions and uplift of existing institutions in Pakistan. It also

facilitated the development of higher educational system in Pakistan. Its main purpose was to

upgrade universities in Pakistan to be centers of education, research and development. The HEC

has played a leading role towards building a knowledge based economy in Pakistan by giving out

hundreds of doctoral scholarships for education abroad every year. 

Overview:-

In 2000 World Bank (WB) and UNESCO pointed out the backwardness of developing countries

like Pakistan which act as an inducer to activate the Education Ministry. So Zubaida Jalal,

Education Minister at that time constituted a task force to higher education and research in

Pakistan. This task force recommended the formation of Higher Education Commission (HEC)

in place of University Grant Commission (UGC) which was formerly established by Zulifkar Ali

Bhutto in 1970s. In April 11, 2002, Musharraf regime approved the recommendation of “Task

Force on Improvement of Higher Education in Pakistan”. Prof. Dr. Attaur-Rehman, Federal

Minister of Science and Technology at that time was considered as a best person to take the

position of chairman of HEC. Existing Chairman of HEC is Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed who was

appointed in April 15, 2014 by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. HEC is an autonomous body

and Prime Minister (PM) is the controlling authority of HEC. Commission is constituted of 17

members which is a perfect balance of federal, provincial and university representatives. They

are appointed for 4 years tenure and cannot be removed by anyone. Several important functions

performed by HEC are as assurance of quality in higher education and research, formation of

new universities, provision of funds, accreditation of universities and the degrees issued by them,

and coordination between universities and industries etc.

Purpose:-

The main purpose of Higher Education commission is to “facilitate the development of the

universities of Pakistan to be world class centers of research and development”. This

is a high powered commission, the mandate of which is to “encompass all degree granting

universities and institutions, public and private, including degree granting colleges and support

the attainment of quality education in these institutions by facilitating and coordinating self

assessment of academic programs and their external review by national and international experts.

The HEC also supervises the:

Planning,

Development,

Accreditation

Roles of HEC:-

Role of the Higher Education Commission with regard to equivalencies has now been well

established as a referral and advisory body.

Now not only individuals, NGOs but also the Government and employing agencies, such as

the Federal/Provincial Public Service Commission’s ask the Higher Education

Commission/HEC for advice and verification of institutions and validation of degrees.

The universities by mutual agreement or in their individual capacity may also refer their

cases to the Higher Education Commission.

There is now growing trends among them to refer the cases of equivalence to the Higher

Education Commission/HEC because some of the newly established universities have not

constituted their Equivalence Committees, they, therefore, depend upon the decisions of the

Higher Education Commission/HEC and other universities.

HEC is the only institution of the country which could verify and give an equivalent

certificate.

The Higher Education Commission with full cooperation of public and private universities in

a short span of 9 years has brought in a ‘paradigm shift’ in the higher education sector of the

country. Universities are no more merely ‘ivory towers’ of knowledge but have become more

responsive to society needs and aspirations.

HEC has integrated Pakistan and broken the elitist myth of availability of talent only in big

cities.

HEC is the Role Model Federal Organization which empowers equal and full participation of

all universities and provinces to facilitate higher education for the socio-economic

development of Pakistan.

Pakistani scholars from little villages and remote towns have taken the world by storm. This

is especially true in our neighboring country which is now trying to create an HEC-like

organization, and has announced a five-fold increase in the higher education budget with tens

of new IITs to be set up. The next 5 year strategy of HEC calls for Universities Building

Pakistan. It is important that this vision become a reality.

The key role of higher education is to enable basic institutional capacity building for

economic, political and social development. The college and university graduates with arts,

business, and science or technology degrees help promote economy, democracy, social

mobility, entrepreneurship, and intellectual and industrial competitiveness of their entire

nation. 

HEC also makes sure the;

Attestation of Degrees.

Recognition of Degrees.

Recognition of new Institutions created under law in any province.

Quality Assurance program.

Linkage to international quality assurance agencies.

Selection of scholars against Pakistan chairs abroad.

Foreign students in Pakistan.

Reforms in Education by HEC:-

The reforms or as the HEC names it “Future Intervention Strategies” for the development and

improvement of higher education is directed in the following five areas:

Faculty development

Higher education infrastructure development

Focus area support

Industrial linkage

Higher education sector reforms

Out of this package of reforms, some have already been introduced; a few are in very early phase

of implementation, while others are expected to be introduced in due course of time. The most

important and a far-reaching reform is the faculty development programme on which the HEC

has paid much emphasis.

Faculty development:-

Indigenous scholarship programme

Pakistan Organization for collaborative Research

Faculty Training

Foreign PhDs scholarship programme

Tenure Track system

Higher education infrastructure development:-

Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN)

Digital Library Programme

Centralized Instrumentation Facilities

Curriculum

HEC Support

Focus area support:-

Engineering Sciences

Pharmaceuticals

Bio-technology

Information Technology

Social Sciences / Economics / Management

Agricultural Science

Health Sciences

Industrial linkage :-

Technology Parks

Venture Capital Fund

Higher education sector reform:-

Governance and Management

Alumni Support Office

Career Counseling

Information Management System

Promotion of Research:-

The HEC has introduced following schemes for promoting research in the universities.

Research grants to the institutions.

Research grants to the individual researchers

Achievements of HEC:-

As HEC replaced the UGC, so it is very important to knew about its achievements. Few

achievements are listed below:-

No. of universities increased from 57 in 2004 to 132 in 2014.

Enrolment in universities increased from 1, 37,000 in 2004 to 4,00,000 in 2014.

In first 55 years there were about 3000 PhDs but in last Ten years 3280 PhDs had been

produced.

There were just 14 PhDs in engineering in first 55 years and 140 in last Ten years.

7500 PhDs are in pipeline studying at prestigious local and foreign universities.

Research output increased six fold per year i-e from 815 in 2004 to 5068 in 2014.

Citation increased 1000% during the last few years.

Through PERN they linked all universities through a 10GB backbone and 1 GB connectivity.

75% of world’s literature (23000 e-journals and 45000 e-books) is available to all university

students via digital library.

Performance of HEC was admired at world level. WB, USAID, British council, Royal

Society, Nature, Science Watch admired its role in different words. Someone called it as a

“Rising Star” and other one as “Silent Revolution”. Fred M Hayward and many others also

praised the performance of HEC.

Now Pakistani degrees are recognized in whole world because HEC has earned membership

of the Asia Pacific Quality Network, as well as the Network of Quality Assurance Agencies

of the World. Now NARIC, UK agency for equating foreign education system also

recognized our degrees that they didn’t in past. That all became possible due to the

prestigious performance of HEC and due to its autonomy.

HEC Ordinance, 2002:-

(An Ordinance to provide for the establishment of Higher Education Commission)

An Overview:-

WHEREAS in the interest of improvement and promotion of Higher Education, Research and

development, it is expedient to provide for the establishment of a Higher Education Commission

and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;

AND WHEREAS the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to

take instant action;

NOW THEREFORE, in pursuance of the aforesaid Proclamation of Emergency of the fourteenth

day of October, 1999, and the provisional constitutional Order No.1 of 1999, read with the

provisional constitution (Amendment) No. 9 of 1999 and in exercise of all powers enabling him

in that behalf, the president of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to make and promulgate

the following Ordinance:

Extent and Commencement:- This Ordinance may be called the Higher Education

Commission Ordinance, 2002;

It extends to the whole of Pakistan.

It shall come into force at once.

Establishment and Functions of Commission:-

Controlling Authority:- The controlling Authority of the commission shall be the Prime

Minister or as the case may be, the chief executive of Islamic Republic of Pakistan who may

supervise the affairs of the Commission.

Establishment of the Commission:-

1-As soon as the case may be, the federal Government shall, by notification in the Official

gazette, establish a commission to be called the Higher Education Commission.

2-The commission shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal

with powers, subject to the provisions of this ordinance, to acquire, hold and dispose off

property, both movable and immovable and shall by the said name sue or be sued.

3-The head quarters of the commission shall be at Islamabad and it may be set up its sub-

officials at such place or places it may deem fit.

Appointment of the Chairman:-

1-The controlling authority shall appoint a person of international eminence and proven

ability who has made significant contribution to higher Education as teacher, researcher or

administrator, as chairperson on such terms and conditions as it may determine.

2-The chairperson appointed under sub-section (1) shall have the status of federal minister.

Composition and constitution of commission:-

1- The commission shall consist of following members, namely;

(a)The chairperson

(b)the secretary, ministry of education

(c)Secretary,

Information technology and Telecommunication Division, or

Scientific and Technological research Division;

To be nominated by the controlling authority.

(d)Four nominees of provincial Governments, one from each of the provinces;

(e)Ten members appointed in the manner specified in the sub-sections (3) and (4) and;

(f) The Executive Director to the commission.

2-The executive Director of the commission shall be ex officio secretary of the commission.

3-The controlling authority in the First instance shall appoint ten members of the commission

out of whom: -

(a)Seven shall be persons of international eminence and proven ability with significant

contribution to Higher Education as a Teacher, researcher or Administrator provided that at

least one of the members shall be a woman;

(b)One member shall be a Rector or Vice- Chancellor appointed by the controlling authority

out of a panel of three persons suggested by a committee consisting of all vice-chancellors of

Public sector Universities to be set up by the commission and;

(c)two members shall be persons of eminence from the private sector who have made

significant contributions in the field of Higher Education or Research and Development.

4-in all subsequent appointments of the members specified in clause (a) of sub-section (2) the

commission shall suggest a panel of three persons for each seat out of whom one may be

appointed by the Controlling Authority not later than one month from the date of receipt of

the names proposed by the Commission and the Controlling Authority may not appoint any

of the persons proposed by the commission and may seek a fresh proposal for suitable

persons for appointment as members.

5-The chairperson and the members shall hold office for a period of four years and shall in

no case be eligible for re-appointment for more than one similar term.

6-The chairperson and members may not be removed from office before the expiry of their

term service on proven charges of Corruption, inefficiency, permanent disability or failure to

attend two consecutive meetings without intimations in advance.

Honorarium and allowances of the members:- The members other than Chairperson and

Executive Director shall not be entitled to any salary or benefits for their services except such

honorarium and allowances as may be prescribed.

Resignation and filling of vacancies: -

1-The Chairperson or any member may ,by writing under this hand addressed to the

Controlling Authority ,resign from his office.

2-Any vacancy occurring in the membership of Commission due to death, removal or

resignation shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance .In case the

vacancy is not filled in within three months ,the Commission shall itself appoint person out

of the panel referred in sub-section (4) of section (6).

3-in the case of Vacancy occurring in the Office of the Chairperson the controlling Authority

may nominate any member of the Commission to act as Chairperson for a maximum period

of three months during which period the Controlling Authority shall fill in the Vacancy by

appointing a regular Chairperson.

Meetings of the Commission:-

1-A meeting of the Commission shall be held at least twice in a financial year on such day

and such time in place as the Chairperson may determine. At least six members may also call

a meeting of the commission in relation to the functions of the Commission only.

2-For the purposes of the meeting of the Commission, nine members shall constitute a

quorum.

3-The Chairperson or in his absence, a member elected by the members present in the

meeting for the purpose, shall preside over a meeting of the Commission.

4-All decisions of the Commission shall be expressed in terms of the opinion of the majority

of its members present and voting. In the event of inequality of votes; the Chairperson or as

the case may be, the member presiding the meeting shall have a casting vote;

Provided that the Controlling authority may refer any decision of the Commission to the

Commission for re-consideration.

Powers and Functions of the Commission:-

1-For the Evaluation, improvement and promotion of Higher Education ,Research and

Development ,the Commission may:-

(a)Formulate policies ,guiding principles and priorities for Higher Education Institutions for

Promotion of socio-economic development of the Country.

(b) Cause evaluation of the Performance of the Institutions.

(c) Prepare through consultation with the institutions, plans for the development of Higher

Education and express its opinion on all matters relating thereto;

(d)Prescribe conditions under which Institutions including those that are not part of the state

Educational system, may be opened and operated;

(e)Set up National or regional evaluation councils or authorize any existing council or similar

body to carry out accreditation of Institutions including their Departments ,faculties and

Disciplines by giving them appropriate ratings. The commission shall help build capacity of

existing councils or bodies in order to enhance the reliability of the evaluation carried out by

them.

(f) Advise the Federal Government and the Federal Governments on proposals for granting a

charter to award degrees in both public and private sector.

(g)submit to the federal Government the recurring and development budgets for public sector

institutions and allocate funds to public sector institutions out of bulk financial provision

received from the Government and other resources on performance and need basis.

(h) review and examine the financial requirements of public sector institutions; approve and

provide funds to these institutions on the basis of annual recurring needs as well as for

development projects and research based on specific proposals and performance and while

approving funds for a public sector institution the commission shall ensure that a significant

proportion of the resources of institution are allocated to research support and libraries;

(i)approve projects within the same ceilings as are specified for Department Development

Working Party;

(j)Advise institutions in raising funds from sources other than the Government;

(k)Support the development of linkages between institutions and industry as well as national

and international organizations that fund research and development with a view to enhancing

research;

(l)facilitate the introduction of educational programmes that meet the needs of the

employment market and promote the study of basic and applied sciences in every field of

national and international importance in the institutions;

(m)advise institutions in ensuring a proper balance between teaching and research;

(n)cause to be set up testing bodies or designate any existing body for the purpose;

(o)determine the equivalence and recognition of degrees ,diplomas and certificates awarded

by institutions within the country and abroad;

(p)develop guidelines and facilitate the implementation of a system of evaluation of

performance of faculty members and institutions;

(q)provide guidelines as regards minimum criteria and qualifications for appointment,

promotion, salary structure in consultation with the Finance Division and other terms and

conditions of service of faculty for adaptation by individual institutions and review its

implementation;

(r)take measures including the allocation of funds, for the establishment of fellowships,

scholarships, visiting professorship programmes, or any other programme ,in addition to

assistance to similar programmes of Institutions ;and facilitate greater mobility of faculty

through national and international contracts;

(s)setting up committees comprising national and international experts in various disciplines

to advise the Commission on its affairs;

(t)promote formal links between institutions in the country to make the most effective use of

experience and specialized equipment and promote national and international linkages with

respect to knowledge sharing ,collaborative research, personnel exchange and cost sharing;

(u)encourage, support and facilitate training programmes ,workshops and symposia;

(v)guide institutions in designing curricula that provides a proper content of basic sciences,

social sciences, humanities, engineering and technology, in the curricula of each level and

guide and establish minimum standards for good governance and management of institutions

and advise the chancellor of any institution on its statuses and regulations;

(w)establishment an endowment fund for Higher Education with contributions from

Governmental as well as non-governmental resources;

(x)collect information and statistics on Higher Education and institutions as it may deem fit

and may cause it published ;and

(y)perform such other functions consistent with the provisions of this ordinance as may be

prescribed or as may be incidental or consequential to the discharging of the aforesaid

functions.

2-The commission shall perform all its functions efficiently and diligently.

Secretariat of Commission:-

1-The Commission shall appoint an Executive Director in the manner prescribed who shall

unless earlier removed on any of the grounds specified in sub section(6) of section 6, shall

hold office for four years and shall be responsible for the various activities of the

Commission.

2-The Executive Director shall be the head of the Secretariat. The Secretariat shall act as the

executing wing of the Commission and shall be responsible for implementation of all the

orders, decisions, directives and policy of the Commission.

Recruitment of officers, etc :-

1-The Commission may, from time to time, appoint such officers, servants, consultants and

advisers as it may consider necessary for the efficient performance of its functions on such

terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Federal Government.

2-The Commission shall make rules for recruitment of its employees.

Committees: -

1-The Commission may set up as many committees as may be required to effectively

perform its functions.

2-The composition and functions of a committee shall be such as the Commission may

determine.

Accounts and Audit:-

Account and reports of the Commission :-

1-The Commission shall have an account to which shall be credited all grants and

contributions made by the Federal Government or a Provincial Government or by any person

or authority and out of which shall be disbursed the grants and other expenditure to be made

and incurred by the Commission.

2-The Federal Government shall provide funds to the Commission for meeting all expenses

required for discharging its functions and for the public sector institutions and shall, subject

to availability of funds, provide annual grants regularly.

3- The accounts of the Commission shall be:

(a)Maintained in such form and manner as the Federal Government may, in consultation with

the Controller general of Accounts, determine; and

(b)Audited by Auditor-General of Pakistan.

4-The Commission shall, after the end of every financial year, submit to the Controlling

Authority the audited annual statement of accounts of the Commission, together with the

report of the Auditor-General of Pakistan.

5-The Commission shall also submit to the Controlling Authority after the end of every year

a report on the state of higher education and on its activities during that year.

Miscellaneous:-

Authentication of decisions, etc:- All decisions of the Commission shall be authenticated by

the signature of the Chairperson or of any other member authorized by it in this behalf and all

other orders or instruments issued or executed by or on behalf of the Commission shall be

authenticated by the signature of an officer of the Commission authorized by it.

Representation of Commission:- Any law or other instrument providing for the

establishment or incorporation of a university or a degree awarding institution shall have

effect as if it provided for the governing body of the university or degree awarding institution

consisting of a nominee of the Commission in addition to the members of the governing

body.

Validity of proceedings:- No act, proceedings, decision or order of the Commission shall be

invalid by reason only of the existence of vacancy in, or defect in the constitution of, the

Commission.

Delegation of function:- The Commission may, by general or special order and subject to

such conditions as it may deem fit to impose, delegate to Chairperson, Executive Director or

any of its member any of its functions under this Ordinance.

Chairperson, member and officers, etc. to be public servants:- The Chairperson,

members, officers, servant, consultant and advisers shall be deemed to be public servants

within the meaning of section 21 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860).

Ordinance to override other laws :- The provisions of this Ordinance shall have effect

notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in law for the time being in force.

Power to make rules:- The Commission may, with the prior approval of the Controlling

Authority, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of

this Ordinance.

Repeal:-

1-The University Grants Commission Act, 1974 (XXIII 1974), is hereby repealed.

2-Upon commencement of this Ordinance:

(a)All funds, properties, rights and interests of whatsoever kind issued and used, enjoyed,

possessed, owned or vested in the UGC in existence immediately before such

commencement and all liabilities, legally subsisting against the said UGC shall pass to the

Commission established under this Ordinance

(b)Everything done, action taken, obligation or liabilities incurred, rights and assets acquired,

persons appointed, or authorized jurisdiction or power conferred, endowment, bequests,

funds, or trust created, donations or grants made or issued under any provision of the

repealed Act, rules, applicable to the said UGC shall remain in force and be continued and,

be deemed to have been respectively done, taken, incurred, acquired, appointed, authorized,

conferred, created, made, or issued under this Ordinance and reference in any document, to

any provision of the said Act or rules made there under shall, so far as may be, be deemed to

be reference to the corresponding provisions of this Ordinance or the rules made or deemed

to have been made there under; and

(c)Any rules made under the repealed Act shall, in so far as they are not inconsistent with the

provisions of this Ordinance or the rules made thereunder having recourse to the various

matters which by this Ordinance have to be regulated or prescribed by rules shall continue to

be in force, until they are repealed, replaced, rescinded or modified in accordance with the

provisions of this Ordinance; and

(d)All contracts and working arrangements made and incurred by the UGC in connection

with and for the purpose of the UGC, before the establishment of this Commission shall be

deemed to have been made or incurred by the Commission and have effect accordingly; and

(e) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law, contract or agreement or in the condition

of service, every officer, servant or employee of the UGC existing immediately before the

establishment of this Commission shall, on such establishment, stand transferred to, and

become an employee of the Commission on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed

by rules:

Provided that the pay and allowances to which an officer and servant of the Commission

shall be entitled shall not be less favorable than those to which he was entitle immediately

before such transfer and no person who stands transferred to the Commission shall,

notwithstanding anything contained in any law, contract or agreement, be entitled to any

compensation because of such transfer.

.

Criticism faced by HEC:-

But beside all these achievements there are also few critics of HEC who pointed out the flaws of

HEC as Prof Dr. Pervaiz Hoodbhoy, Dr. Pervaiz Tahir, Dr Aisha Siddiqa and Najjam Sethi etc.

Their objections include substandard PhDs, useless projects, expensive but useless equipment

and failure of foreign university formation programs etc.

In addition to this they also argue that instead of spending huge money on higher education,

Pakistan should spend this money on primary and secondary education.

In a meeting of Implementation Commission led by Mian Raza Rabbani on March 28, 2011,

they decided to devolve HEC to the provinces.

Along with this they retained several functions at federal level but fragmented them in

Cabinet Division, Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination, and Islamabad Capital Territory

(ICT).

On March 31, 2011 HEC was informed through a notification No.F.3 (26)/2010-IC-I about

its devolution. Then students protested in different cities of Pakistan against this decision.

Ministry of Finance also blocked the installment of Rs. 7.7 billion as the position of HEC

was uncertain after this notification. Same was expected about the soft loan of $300m

approved by WB and another foreign assistance of $250m via USAID.

In a meeting on April 7, 2011, VCs of more than 130 universities sought intervention by

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to keep the HEC as a

federal entity.

On April 9, 2011 a petition had filed under the Article 184(3) of constitution at Supreme

Court (SC) at the behalf of Rippah International University Rector Professor GA Miana and

University of Lahore Islamabad Campus Director General Brigadier Muhammad Ajaeb

against Federal Government and Ministry of Law by Advocate Arshad Ali Ch. and was

drawn by Mr. Anwar Masood Khan.

A plea was also submitted by Dr. Atta-ur-rehman at SC to take a suo moto action against the

devolution of HEC.

On April 12, 2011three member bench comprised of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mehmood Ch.,

justice Muhammad Sair Ali and justice Ghulam Rabbani held that the notification of March

31, 2011 shall have no effect of the functioning of the HEC in view of the provisions of the

Ordinance 2002 and in case of any conflict and inconsistency between the notification and

the provisions of the ordinance, the ordinance shall prevail.

On April 28, 2011, the decision was taken during the meeting of Council of Common

Interest (CCI) chaired by PM Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and attended by the CMs of all

provinces that the federal government will continue to fund HEC until the next NFC Award

in 2014.

According to official data, HEC had renewed the contracts of 12 Director Generals including

one DG services. Among 12 DGs, 5 DGs are of MP scales that are enjoying all the perks and

privileges besides getting handsome salaries. “If HEC is really serious to resolve the budget

issues then it has to take a start by shrugging off the additional staff”, said by the senior

lecturer of local university.

Federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Associations (FAPUASA) vice President Prof.

Kaleemullah Bareach talking to “The News” alleged that HEC has become a “White

Elephant” and people are being inducted on high salaries despite Shortage of funds. The

sources said the University Teacher’s associations are also constantly raising questions about

alleged favoritism, promotions and misappropriation of funds provided for promotion of

Higher Education sector in the Country.

An important Government Official said, the university teacher’s associations, Vice-

Chancellors of public sector universities and even Chairman and Executive Director of HEC

have been taken into confidence and there would be no resistance this time to decentralize

HEC, as happened in the past after passage of the 18th Amendment.

According to the legal draft sent to HEC comments last month by the federal cabinet, 8 out of

25 functions would be kept under the domain of HEC while the rest would be transferred to

various departments. It is being assumed that it was the same draft that was presented by the

implementation commission before the SC decision and now the Government is using it

again to devolve HEC. In its reply, HEC insisted that all 25 functions are extremely

important and should be dealt under the ambit of HEC.

The draft suggested transfer of degree verification cell to Cabinet Division, control of public

sector universities operating in Islamabad to ICT administration, foreign scholarship

programmes to Foreign Affairs and the welfare of International students to Inter-provincial

Coordination Ministry. It has been decided that Commission for Standards of Higher

Education would be Established and the core function of degree recognition, equivalence and

attestation would be transferred to this new commission.

This is not unlike the ‘good work’ done by the HEC. Attaur Rahman lists various awards

received by the HEC, but awards only create economic growth for HEC chairmen, not for the

rest of the nation. And let us consider what Dawn listed as the successes of the institution last

week:

“For instance, since its coming into being in 2002, the number of public sector universities

and degree awarding institutions almost doubled from 59 to 127 while student enrollment

went up from 135,000 to 400,000. Thanks to the HEC`s efforts, the country produced 3,037

new PhDs from 2003 to 2009; compare this to the 3,281 scholars we produced from 1947 to

2002.”

A report by Ahsan Iqbal published by the Pakistan Education Task Force concludes that:

“The truth is that Pakistani policymakers have little handle on what is currently being spent

on education. We need urgently to gain greater clarity over the current situation and also to

analyse what needs to be spent if governments are to meet their constitutional obligations on

education”.

Recommendations:-

Education is a slow and almost imperceptible process. Our system of education is the legacy of

the past and our educational institutions have been nurtured for a long time in the old traditions.

It is always very difficult to re-organize a deeply entrenched structure. What is, therefore

required to do is that instead of making hasty, ambitious, and short term policies, we should

formulate a long term plan for the improvement and reconstruction of over-all system of

education including primary, secondary and higher education simultaneously in close relation

with each other. This plan should really be a national plan based on our needs and aspirations as

a nation in accordance with our changing circumstances. It should remain undisturbed and

unchanged even after a change of government. In Pakistan, most often, education policies have

been formulated and announced after change in the government. Whenever a new government

came into power, a new education policy was formulated suppressing the previous policies, its

schemes, plans and proposals, how much useful and valuable they are. Instead, new priorities

were determined by every new government. Unfortunately there has been a sort of political

instability in the country and no government has remained politically stable enough to execute its

educational policies fully and properly. Those in power had little time to concentrate and see that

the policies are properly and honestly implemented. Because of this main reason, education in

Pakistan has remained comparatively a neglected sector and received little attention and less

priority of different government in power. If we are once able to formulate such a national plan

of education, we should make whole hearted, rigorous and concentrated efforts to implement it

with full support of all concerned because:

“The problems of education in Pakistan are so enormous and the size of the educational

operation so huge that complete government commitment and the total national efforts are

imperative to achieve the aims of education”.

Conclusion:-

In the present scenario when our nations already confronting at many fronts like terrorism,

corruption and energy crises etc, fragmentation of HEC will be proved as a bad omen. As no

ordinary person is an angel, similarly none of the statutory is flawless. But what we have to do is

to watch the overall efficiency. And if we compare the achievements and flaws of HEC than it

will be realized that HEC showed overwhelming progress and proved itself as a functional body.

And its overnight fragmentation will be proved as a monumental destruction. Even the critics of

HEC like Prof. Dr Hoodbhoy were not in the favor of overnight devolution of HEC to the

provinces, as the provinces didn’t have the capacity to perform the function of HEC. And even if

they have, still there are several functions that should be performed by an autonomous body like

HEC under federal government. Many prestigious scientists like Dr A. Q. khan and many

analyzers like Tallat Hussain were also not in the favor of devolution of HEC. Finally a good

decision was taken by PM on April 28, 2011 that federal government continue the funding of

HEC upto the next NFC Award in 2014.Keeping in view the opinion of young science graduates

a better option will be as, HEC keep working as a federal autonomous body and at the mean time

provinces pay their full attention to the primary and secondary education. In that way provinces

may win the trust of people and at the meanwhile dismal condition of primary and secondary

education can be improved. It is very important to work at all the three levels of education at the

mean time, because, if tertiary education is essential for economic development than primary and

secondary education plays a key role in social development that will help us to combat terrorism.