Higher education : ‘HEC approval must for opening sub-campuses’

Commission chief asks vice chancellors to act against plagiarism

LAHORE: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Mukhtar Ahmed on Monday warned against launching degree programmes and opening sub-campuses without the commission’s approval. Violators, he said, would be dealt with as per HEC rules.

He was speaking at the start of a three-day Vice Chancellors’ Committee meeting. The HEC chairman reviewed universities’ performance over the last year, and challenges faced by university managements.

Ahmed told the gathering of more than 120 heads of public and private universities that quality of higher education should top their agenda. He said that currently the commission had a budget of nearly Rs80 billion compared to Rs35 billion in 2010-11. “Although funding for higher education has remarkably increased, it is still low compared to many developing countries,” he said.

The chairman praised the government for its sustained support to the sector. “It is now our responsibility to make sure that higher-learning institutions contribute to the country’s socio-economic growth.”

Referring to private educational institutions, he said that education had become a business worldwide but commercialisation should not be done at the cost of quality. “It’s my humble request that you not compromise on the basic parameters of education. If you do so, you will endanger the future of thousands of youngsters,” he said.

Ahmed also spoke about the rising number of sub-campuses, and universities launching MPhil and PhD programmes without fulfilling the criteria. “Action will be taken against the institutions found violating the rules.”

Ahmed said that over the years the HEC had considerably increased the budget for research.

He asked the university heads to take all-possible measures for encouraging research and allocate resources for the purpose. He asked them to act against plagiarism. The chairman asked the vice chancellors to thoroughly review security on the campuses.

He highlighted various ongoing and upcoming projects in higher education, including the establishment of technical universities; grant of scholarships under the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor; establishment of centres of excellence in water, energy, food security and climate change; creation of technology parks; and national and international partnerships for developing human resource in various fields.

Earlier in his welcome address, Rasul Jan, chairperson of the VCs’ Committee, thanked the participants for joining the forum to deliberate on the challenges faced by the higher education sector. “The sector has some weaknesses… but it has made achievements as well. I am confident that this forum can help lay the foundation for changing the destiny of our future generations.”

In his presentation on Institutional Performance and Programme Review, Arshad Ali, the HEC executive director, shared the commission’s recent initiative of visiting universities across the country, and identifying loopholes in the fulfillment of quality criteria.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2016.