Editorial

Devolution of the HEC

the HEC would be in the best position to assess the wider needs of academia and the nation.

Editorial March 30, 2011

One of the unheralded achievements of the previous government was the attention it managed to give to higher-level education in the country in the form of vastly increased funding for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and its elevation as an autonomous body whose chief answered directly to the prime minister. True, this funding, some would argue, came partially at the expense of primary education, but even this minor positive is now in danger of being undone as the HEC’s functions are about to be devolved to the provinces. Firstly, it must be noted that devolving education — as has already happened with primary education, which comes under the provinces — is not in itself worthy of criticism. That is because it is good for the federation to have the provinces deciding for themselves how money is to be spent on their social sector development, and it allows for greater accountability and ownership in the way resources are allocated. But the best argument against devolving higher education to the provinces lies in the oft-quoted mantra that there is no need to fix something that isn’t broken. If the government must tamper with the HEC, the best remedy would be to appoint sub-committees at the provincial level that could advice the HEC at the centre of their needs.

A centralised body, such as the HEC as it exists now, would be in the best position to assess the wider needs of academia and the nation. From the need for greater numbers of scientists to being academically competitive with the rest of the world, the HEC’s priorities are dictated by a national perspective, which is better than one that is parochial. It also needs to be asked if the move to devolve higher education is perhaps linked in any manner to the steadfast refusal by the current HEC chief to play along with the government on the issue of fake degrees of several members of parliament. The HEC has been studiously neutral in vetting the academic degrees of parliamentarians, no matter to which party they are affiliated, and this independence needs to be preserved.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2011.

COMMENTS (10)

raza ahmed khan | 13 years ago | Reply

                  **AN ILLITERATE ACT OF ILLITERATE POLITICIANS**

HEC is the only federal institution of Pakistan recognized worldwide. It verifies the certificates and degrees awarded by the Pakistani educational institutions. The outside world only know HEC. Dissolving HEC on the will of some illiterate politicians mean destroying an established institution which at present is acting as a bridge between local and foreign institutions. Everyone knows that HEC is being destroyed just because it is not accepting fake documents of some Pakistani politicians. In fact those who are doing this are the real enemy of the nation and must be stopped at any cost for the sake of education system. Some illiterate politicians are taking this country back into dark ages. Will this nation keep silent and let the illiterate politicians do what ever they like. NO and Never. People will certainly not accept this illiterate act of illiterate p[politicians. This act will determinately and definitely have to be reversed.

pakistan's future | 13 years ago | Reply i am an under-grad. student and still i feel that HEC till date as i have seen, has worked for the good. As already said, we have improved our standards in the field of research and technology since it was formed, i don't remember if there had been more projects going on before it was formed or there had been any gov. scholarships for students who wanted to go abroad as many as given by HEC. As somebody said that there is no proper representation of provinces in HEC, when provinces are not pacing equally at primary education level then how would they flourish equally in higher levels? and that is what we have got to change by having a federal control over our education system and making it a first priority to educate every citizen on merit basis. and as far as somebody said that checking fake degrees of our MNAs is a political thing and is not necessary then i am sorry but what i could recall is that graduation was a compulsion when they contested for elections so ethically they should not have betrayed us being our representatives and yes universities should not have granted them fake degrees, and there must be some action against those uni.'s chancellors or boards as well but not against HEC for notifying those fake degree holders

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ruqia mehmood | 13 years ago | Reply I am really astonished to read anti HEC comments, as a HEC scholar i deal HEC personaly and really this is the great commission that is working in best intrest of students and Pakistan. Even some times due to politics, universities themselves are not loyal to their students but HEC.This is really v sad to point a finger on this respectable commission. I think people who dnt know its work or who have no interest in high education, have no right to speak about it or against it. i request them to just consider all the projects and schemes which HEC has introduced for students. In all these schemes and scolarships merit was the only criteria either they are for foreign or for indeginous MS and PhD programs. This is just due to HEC that science and technology started flourishing in our country and we have started big projects in our universities. HEC has produced more scholars in 10 years history and its progress can be compared to last 50 years. last but not least, for our govt plz dnt play with our future, you have many other departments waiting for reforms, turn your attention towards them.

Abdul Shakoor Channa | 13 years ago | Reply HEC is the bone for Pakistan, its not just an institution where people come and pass their time and go back to homes, it is a Factory, the factory to produce the future of Pakistan, internal working system of HEC is trumendus, its fully computrized and upto dated, the HEC is among those few office in pakistan where SAP system fully operated, HEC is playing such a vital role and useing its resource in right way. why goverment is not bearing its existance? becasue its only office who is working for the development of Pakistan, not only producing its human capacity in pakistan but also its knownable abroad as well. if the government is interested in country development, than i request govt. that they may emphasis their attention on other department who are productive but despite of this they are burdon on pakistan economy as well,,,whereas, the HEC is producing the Human, the skills, the capacity, the useful building of mankind, the knowledge based society, HEC is Atom Bomb for pakistan in field of Eduation, for God Sake dont dstroy the future of YOUR generation, Think a while !! if pakistan lose its Atom Bomb, than what will be happend....?may we survive in the world, where the enemies are srounding us...my answar is NO. like this HEC is a Atom Bomb please save this and save your country as well... thanks

Wajiha | 13 years ago | Reply Seriously, I don't understand what wrong with our governments. How they make decisions and what logic form their basis. There is no point that one should think about this devolution. I hope most of us must remember the UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION, a sick body who could never contribute to higher education. No doubt HEC is a promising organization and in last few years they have played a dynamic role to boost higher education in Pakistan. Perhaps, even in this technology oriented era our feudal lords don't want this nation to be educated and learn to survive.

White Russian | 13 years ago | Reply The expansionist mindset of HEC bosses, and a tendency on its part to micro-control the universities is destroying the autonomy of universities. HEC is trying to assume a role broader than its minimal character of a regulating authority for curriculum and allocation of research grants. With present trend we are going to have only one university based in Islamabad and run by a supra-Vice-Chancellor (top HEC bureaucrat) and its many branches like QAU, PU, KU etc all over the country. With mindless influx of big money during Mush-Atta regime, HEC has grown into a self-perpetuating, justification-seeking monstrous bureaucracy with ever increasing assumption of roles which should not be its business to begin with. It is ridiculous, that of 16 members of HEC, only 5 are themselves PhD's while this body is self-righteously trying to regulate and control the University faculties which is better qualified than HEC members themselves. Is it not mind-bogglingly unintelligible that people possessing Ph.Ds are deemed less fit to regulate themselves than by the politically picked less qualified HEC members? Ever since Prof Atta-UR-Rehman started the project of mass production of Ph.Ds, with justification of spent money coming from now his famous PowerPoint clicks (logic of the kind: India is producing xxx million tons of potatoes and Pakistan merely yyy million ton; India is producing xxx PhDs per annum, Pakistan producing only yyy etc.), Pak universities have turned into money minting centres for the greedy but less gifted among the professors, in the name of scientific research (which in most of the cases is actually nothing but scientific-fraud and professional misconduct at best). I have no idea as to what shall improve by just devolving HEC to provinces.

Tayyab | 13 years ago | Reply Being an HEC scholar myself makes my opinion biased. Having said that I strongly believe that it is one of those few organizations that are doing a great job. I along with many others like myself would not have had the chance to go to world class institutions had it not been for the support of the HEC. Giving a scholarship isn't everything, there has to be a mechanism that ensures that the system works. The system involves ensuring that scholars abroad are given their stipends on time and that their fees are paid on time. There is no rent seeking or corruption in the system as far as foreign scholarships are concerned and the system is working quite well. I don't quite agree with Dr. Hussain's opinion which I am sure is much better informed then mine which I believe stokes the inter-provincial acrimony that we witness in our society. Having been in contact with the HEC for around 2 years now I am of the firm opinion that as an organization there is transparency in its operation along with a realization of what the HEC's mandate and future strategic positioning is. The devolution of such a fine organization is a mistake. Looking at the current situation of the devolved Departments and having a first hand account of the quality of human resource available at the provincial level and their motivation I feel that scholars such as myself are in for a rough ride which the Parliamentary Commission dealing with the 18th amendment must not have given much thought. I implore the powers that be not to tinker with this system and even if they want to do so to give power to the federating units, ensure that there is adequate capacity at the provincial level. Lets hope it does not turn in to the post-devolution scenario where people took a long time in figuring out what the new system was.

Salman | 13 years ago | Reply Why not convert HEC into a management and control body which would be responsible for steering the outputs of all provincial universities.... HEC focus must be strategic and not operational

M. Tauseef Barlas | 13 years ago | Reply spend money on education, health, clean water, please produce a good nation and lead the word.

Prof(rtd)Dr Naseer Hussain | 13 years ago | Reply The argument for retaining the HEC should be based on certain criteria.Like any other organization,its budget must be critically examined.The amount of money spent on recurring expenditure of the institution must be justified and the people running the HEC must represent all the provinces in real terms.As you dont need an Einstein for the allocation of Funds to different universities and students studying abroad,money should be wisely spent on hiring good accountants rather than fat salaried intellectuals who simply affix their thumbs on proposals presented to them by their assistants. The small provinces or those that lack powerfull representations in the UGC are always deprived of funds on one pretext or another.The argument for UGC for its role in the degree cases of the legislatures is not enough to convince a neutral person as the requirement of a degree for the public representatives is no more valid and is a political issue. UGC as a purely educational setup unnecessarily involved itself in a political issue and was instrumental in creating lots of hardship for its partners. Why UGC involved itself in an issue which is not primarily its function,beats the logic. Degrees are issued by the Universities not by the UGC.The concerned V.Cs are reponsible for all the degrees issued by their universities,as they and their controllers of examination signs every degree using a special ink.The Provinces were always deprived of their rights by giving untennable arguments.Let the blinds, if we are blinds,run their homes by themselves as it is not possible to run others affairs indefinetely.Thank you MR BIG BROTHER. You have been very kind to us.God bless you. affair indefinitely.The small provinces have been listening to this argument for more than sixty years.It is now time to say thank you mr BIG BROTHER.

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