Higher Education Commission (HEC),devolve HEC

ISLAMABAD: Though preparations for burial of Higher Education Commission are almost complete the serious question being asked is if HEC’s functions have been covered in the Federal Legislative list then why it was being devolved.
Chairman, Higher Education Commission along with the Vice-chancellors of various universities have given a presentation to Mian Raza Rabbani and his committee giving a clear picture of HEC’s status but of no avail.

“They do not give any reason but only say that they are devolving HEC”, said one source privy to the recent developments regarding HEC.

Chairman HEC Javed Leghari had written to Mian Raza Rabbani on March 30, 2011 saying: “HEC fully supports the 18th Amendment and the devolution process. We believe that items 16, 17 and 32, in Part-I of the Federal Legislative List, and items 6, 7, 11, 12, and 13 in Part-II of the Federal Legislative List fully support the current functions of HEC, including higher education, research, scientific and technical institutions, regulatory role, planning, professional education and inter-provincial matters. To implement the 18th Amendment, the way forward would be to jointly review the current functions of the HEC, and how they relate to the Federal Legislative List, and maintain the current status of HEC as a national organisation.

The HEC and the vice-chancellors’ representatives would be glad to meet the implementation committee anytime so that the 18th Amendment is implemented in its true spirit and key functions of the HEC, as defined in the 18th amendment including, but not limited to, higher education policy and planning, standards, accreditation, quality assurance, knowledge sharing, university-industry linkages, linkages with international educational and research organisations, research, foreign students and federal universities and retained with HEC.”

Sources in HEC say what the government was going to do was not devolution but segmentation of HEC as key functions of HEC would be gifted to various federal ministries. Chairman HEC when approached said that HEC supports 18th amendment but the function that are covered in the Federal Legislative List should remain with HEC. A recent cabinet meeting has decided to pass on the HEC’s functions to the Cabinet Division, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, documents available with The News reveal.

More importantly, no roadmap has been devised how to step into the shoes of the HEC dealing with academic matters of significant nature, especially when the departments being assigned this task have no experience of dealing with education.

The affairs relating to the equivalence of degrees, verification of degrees, standard of doctorate etc will be dealt with by Cabinet Division.

Likewise, the universities situated in Islamabad and its vicinity would be looked after by Islamabad Capital Territory for the first time in history. Foreign scholarships will now be administered by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination. By this way the process of degree verification of lawmakers and public servants will now be handled by the cabinet division.

Former chairman of the HEC, Prof Attaur Rahman, says corrupt politicians, having their eyes on Rs40 billion annual budget of the HEC and on prime lands worth billions, are out to destroy it (HEC), but Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are against its dissolution. Well-placed government sources told The News here Monday that all HEC research functions would cease to exist including some 1,000 research projects on the most important issues confronting Pakistan. The Foreign scholarship programme for nearly 5,000 scholars in 28 countries would be moved to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination.

The HEC tracks every foreign scholar and provides him one-year employment in any university of his choice, along with a start-up research grant. After dissolution, graduating PhD students from all over the world would have no entity to coordinate return and placement in local universities. Nearly 5,000 Indigenous Scholarship programmes would be transferred to the provinces in a manner yet to be determined. New desks in some provincial ministries would perhaps be created to deal with financing and management of PhD scholarships.

The Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN) providing high-speed 10 GB connectivity among universities would also stop. The Digital Library Programme would also come to an end. This programme provides access to 45,000 e-books and 23,000 e-journals to all scholars in Pakistan. More than 1,000 scholars per year would be deprived of the opportunity to travel abroad to present research papers. All programmes for linking research activities among Pakistani universities and for improving pedagogical skills of teachers in universities would cease. Nearly 5,000 teachers have already benefited from this programme.

The recently approved US$ 300 million World Bank loan to government for improving education, it is feared, would be withdrawn or at best re-negotiated. The USAID Plan for US$250 million for supporting higher education sector in Pakistan, which is now in an advanced stage, would go back to the drawing board.

The sources reminded that the HEC is an autonomous body reporting directly to the prime minister and not to any division. Two-third of its members are appointed by the prime minister (from a panel of three) for four-year term and may not be removed, save on proven charges of corruption, inefficiency or permanent disability. This structure gives HEC the much-needed autonomy and allows it to pursue its function independently. This is what allowed the HEC to defy pressure and not verify degrees that did not meet the strict standards of verification set by the Commission. Following its dissolution the core function of degree recognition, equivalence and attestation will be shifted to a new commission to be constituted under the Cabinet Division.

Without autonomy, the new commission will neither have local nor international credibility. The new commission would also have the power to recognise new universities being formed all over the country that do not meet the existing criteria for a university. Already, many such universities have been denied recognition by HEC since they do not have proper teaching faculty, libraries and Internet connectivity and are housed in a few rooms.

The HEC attests more than 200,000 educational documents each year. Every Pakistani going for work abroad must have his degrees attested by the HEC, which is recognised by the entire world to be a fair and impartial body whose attestation is accepted. The HEC has membership of the Asia Pacific Quality Network and the Network of Quality Assurance Agencies of the World. This membership has to be earned and is not transferable. The world has faith in the degrees of Pakistani universities because of HEC. By creating a new commission, all degrees issued by Pakistani institutions will not be accepted at face. The world is carefully following the fake degrees scandal in Pakistan and can see what the dissolution of HEC entails, the sources added.The news

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