Devolution of some parts of HEC would be desirable but, even for that, the provinces have to be properly prepared.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to three articles that have appeared in your newspaper: Pervez Hoodbhoy’s of April 8, and ones on April 9 by Saleem H Ali and Dr Pervez Tahir.
The article by Dr Hoodbhoy is extremely pertinent and makes the valuable point that devolution of some parts of HEC over time would be desirable but, even for that, the provinces have to be properly prepared. The article by Saleem H Ali also makes the important point that the whole world sees the HEC’s overall performance as outstanding. Being in a state of educational collapse due to long neglect, Pakistan cannot afford to lose out on the benefits provided by a body such as the commission.
He also points out that meeting the human resources needs for primary education can only be done by developing higher education. He seems to put me among the detractors of the HEC but my differences with them were in the nature of disagreements on the best way forward. There was no question as far as I was concerned that the HEC was doing a superb job and needed the full support and assistance of the academia.
In Pervez Tahir’s article a specious argument is given with regard to why the element of revenge cannot be imputed to the government. His point is that the 18th Amendment was made before the question of degree verification arose. However, the interpretation of that amendment as requiring the full and immediate devolution of all but the regulatory aspects of the HEC to the provinces came afterward. Also, for example, how would he propose that the digital library provided by the HEC would now be managed? How about the reversing of the brain-drain by using the foreign faculty hiring scheme to bring expatriate Pakistanis back? How about the courses taught at one university being taken to another, where faculty is not available? The list goes on.
Professor Asghar Qadir
Centre for Advanced Mathematics & Physics National University of Sciences & Technology
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2011.
