HEC hiccups
There is obviously a need to reexamine our education strategy as a whole and determine how money can be best spent.
Academicians from across the country are joining hands to oppose the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) from the federal to the provincial level, as envisaged under the Eighteenth Amendment. The matter had been brewing for some time, but with 133 vice-chancellors opposing the move, 30 public-sector university heads joining in and the Sindh governor informing President Asif Ali Zardari of opposition to the move in the province, the president has promised to look into the matter himself. The decision will be eagerly watched.
Views from both sides of the fence, and from other directions, have been strongly expressed over the matter. It has been argued that the HEC should be done away with as it was set up — in 2002 — by a dictator. More rational comment focuses around the disproportionate budgets allocated to the HEC under Musharraf, with billions going into its account at the cost of primary and secondary education. The HEC and some university heads loudly protested the slashing of the budget to just over Rs15 billion last year against a demand for nearly double that amount. There is obviously a need to re-examine our education strategy as a whole and determine how money can be best spent, and where.
But the voice of academia must not be ignored. It seems obvious there is some logic behind their appeal, and a feeling that the HEC has indeed benefitted education at the higher level by opening up more universities, offering scholarships at the post-graduate level, highlighting the need to push up standards and cracking down on practices like plagiarism. It would be a pity if all this was lost in the process of devolution. The vice-chancellors and other stakeholders need to be heard. It is a good omen that the president himself has decided to look into the matter. We trust he will open up talks with all involved and reach a decision that can ensure gains made in the higher education sector are not lost, even as flaws in the working of the HEC are corrected to make it a more effective body.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2011.
Views from both sides of the fence, and from other directions, have been strongly expressed over the matter. It has been argued that the HEC should be done away with as it was set up — in 2002 — by a dictator. More rational comment focuses around the disproportionate budgets allocated to the HEC under Musharraf, with billions going into its account at the cost of primary and secondary education. The HEC and some university heads loudly protested the slashing of the budget to just over Rs15 billion last year against a demand for nearly double that amount. There is obviously a need to re-examine our education strategy as a whole and determine how money can be best spent, and where.
But the voice of academia must not be ignored. It seems obvious there is some logic behind their appeal, and a feeling that the HEC has indeed benefitted education at the higher level by opening up more universities, offering scholarships at the post-graduate level, highlighting the need to push up standards and cracking down on practices like plagiarism. It would be a pity if all this was lost in the process of devolution. The vice-chancellors and other stakeholders need to be heard. It is a good omen that the president himself has decided to look into the matter. We trust he will open up talks with all involved and reach a decision that can ensure gains made in the higher education sector are not lost, even as flaws in the working of the HEC are corrected to make it a more effective body.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2011.