HEC moot demands autonomy of universities

Consultative dialogue calls on government to ensure 4% of GDP is set aside for education sector

Stakeholders Consultative Dialogue has urged for the autonomy of universities, strengthening the role of civil society, working groups and the media for transparent and the merit-based appointments in the higher education sector

A joint declaration of the 4th Stakeholders Consultative Dialogue on Higher Education, the dialogue called for a constitutional amendment for allocating 4 per cent of the gross domestic product for education sector and one quarter to higher education out of the total education budget.

After Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad, the dialogue was organised by Inter-University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences in collaboration with Punjab HEC and Federal HEC at the University of Education in Lahore.



It was attended by Chairperson Punjab HEC Mohammad Nizamuddin, HEC Executive Director Arshad Ali, as well as academics and civil society representatives from across the country.

The declaration recommended for the establishment of provincial HECs as autonomous bodies that complement functions of federal HEC without jurisdictional conflict as per 18th Constitutional Amendment and the formation of a task force with proper secretariat and support staff to suggest improvements in higher education.

The participants highlighted the positive role of the civil society, the media and higher education working group in the merit-based appointment of HEC Chairperson recently.



It was the first public event at Lahore where the leadership of Federal HEC and Punjab HEC gathered and vowed to undertake collaborative efforts for meeting the challenges in higher education sector.

Chairperson Vice-Chancellors Committee Punjab Hassan Amir Shah shared the main decisions of the recent vice-chancellors’ meeting held at Lahore.

The participants fully endorsed the decisions of the vice-chancellors regarding issues of approved journals, especially related to Social Sciences and languages, approval by HEC for new MPhil and PhD programs, and the composition of syndicates as well as autonomy of the universities.