Clarity of vision: New chairman backs HEC devolution with a caveat

Says there should be decentralisation, but with accountability.

ISLAMABAD:

The new chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) believes that while the body’s powers should be devolved to the provincial level, the manner in which the process is being carried out at the moment is not the way to go.

“[Devolution of HEC’s powers] should be carried out after thorough deliberations,” Dr Mukhtar Ahmad stressed while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday.

“The objective is to not just establish bodies to govern higher education at the provincial level, but define a wholesome role for them, especially in terms of collaboration and nternationalisation,” he said.



Mukhtar was appointed as the chairperson of HEC on April 15 after being handpicked by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from a list of three candidates. He previously served as a member and executive director of the commission.

The new HEC chief also emphasised the commission’s role at the federal level.

“International bodies, in case they require Pakistan’s assistance on any matter related to higher education, cannot just contact Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh or Balochistan… A single representative [body] must be there,” he said.

“There should be decentralisation, but not without accountability and clarity of vision.”

Mukhtar also pointed out that establishment of the Sindh Higher Education Commission earlier this year has been challenged in the Sindh High Court. Both Punjab and K-P, on the other hand, are still deliberating the establishment of such bodies.

Talking about his vision for higher education, the HEC chairman said there was a need to build institution instead of focusing on individuals.

He said the commission had carried out a comprehensive survey in Punjab and Balochistan in order to devise a strategy to construct universities in far-flung areas. Similar surveys have yet to be conducted in Sindh and K-P.

When asked whether the 158 public and private sector universities in the country were not enough, Mukhtar said most of them were ‘urban-centric’. “The peripheries [of Pakistan] are out of the loop when it comes to higher education,” he said.

However, Mukhtar discouraged setting up varsities with limited space and inadequate plans, the likes of which he said were mushrooming all over the country.

“No university which deviates from the required capacity should be allowed to be built,” he said.

The HEC chairman admitted that most research in Pakistan was conducted for ‘research’s sake’. He said this was because the commission funded scholars and graduates to conduct researches a decade ago since there was no culture for research at the time.

“The time [however] is ripe to move ahead and link research with the industry,” he added. According to him, the HEC has started work in this direction, especially to help meet the shortage of energy and food in the country.

“We are working to establish think tanks in collaboration with universities to aid governance and policymaking. These policies will be aimed at catering to the issues the country is currently facing,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2014.