Misunderstood: HEC’s devolution — II

A leaner HEC or a commission by any other name to regulate standards of higher education will satisfy requirements.

The regulatory role is only one of the functions of the present HEC. Hence, the possible formation of a new commission focusing on this very function, consisting perhaps of professionals drawn from the HEC. Curriculum, syllabus, policy and planning have been devolved. Devolution of planning for education means that the new commission cannot undertake the large portfolio of projects from the federal public sector development programme, nor be a recipient of foreign assistance for projects of educational development. The Eighteenth Amendment did not ignore this aspect. Article 167, related to borrowing by provincial governments, now has a new clause, number four, to this effect: “A province may raise domestic or international loans, or give guarantees on the security of the provincial consolidated fund within such limits as may be specified by the National Economic Council.” There is no bar now for the provinces to enter into agreements with the World Bank and USAID for $550 million, credits that the HEC was to receive for tertiary education. In terms of capacity, the World Bank appraisal report does not rate the provinces too badly. Donors may have to renegotiate with the provinces, but there is no ultimate danger of losing this assistance. It is, however, amusing to see some champions of national sovereignty fear the loss of this assistance, in case we respect our constitution.

It has been alleged that the corrupt provincial politicians are eyeing this assistance and lucrative university lands. While the politicians will do no more or less than they do with assistance under other heads, many pieces of the land being referred to were purchased under the PSDP (public sector development programme) of the HEC simply because this was the quickest way to utilise the easily available money. Another allegation is that the HEC is being punished for its role in degree verification. This defies logic as well as fact. The Eighteenth Amendment is not just the decision of parties most affected by the degree verification process, but of all parties. The Implementation Commission also represents all parties. Again, the Eighteenth Amendment was passed by the National Assembly on April 10, 2010, the Senate cleared it on April 15 and the president signed it into law on April 19, 2010. The standing committee of the National Assembly on education asked the HEC to verify degrees much later — in May 2010. In fact, as Geo reported on October 13, 2010, the HEC excused itself from degree verification mainly because of the non-cooperative attitudes of many of the vice chancellors now opposing devolution.

The parliamentary committee on constitutional reform was notified on June 23, 2009 and held 77 meetings subsequently. Where were the representatives of the parties now seeing devolution of the HEC as a challenge to the integrity of the state? There were only two notes of reiteration on education by Senator Khurshid Ahmad of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Ahsan Iqbal of the PML-N. Both related to national curriculum and syllabus, not higher education.

Many commentators have viewed the role of the newly created information and communication technologies (ICT) division as a thoughtless attempt to disperse HEC functions. Far from it. Just as the provincial departments of education look after their universities, the ICT will look after the federal universities for budgetary matters. Foreign scholarships are more appropriately handled by the economic affair division, as in the past, and not by the interprovincial coordination division or the foreign affairs division. The federal government must give assurance that the ongoing scholarships and research programmes will be completed.

Summing up, the devolution of HEC functions other than standards of higher education is in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Eighteenth Amendment. A leaner HEC or a commission by any other name to regulate the standards of higher education will satisfy the requirements of entry number 12 of Part II of the federal legislative list.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2011.