18th Amendment: Punjab presses on with own HEC model

Devolution is fine as long as there’s harmony in policy, says HEC executive director.

LAHORE:

The tussle over control of higher education in the province continues as the Punjab government has announced that it will soon present the model of a provincial Higher Education Commission to the federal government amid certain reservations by the latter.

Last year in December, Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan had said the provincial government was steadily “inching” towards legislation on a provincial HEC. He had said that the bill would be completed in a month.

Now, however, he says, the process has slowed down due to reservations of federal authorities.

In a recent meeting of the Ministry of Planning and Development in Islamabad, Khan said the issue of HEC’s devolution was taken up with Minister of Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal. Khan said he had reported progress on the proposed provincial HEC, but the ministry had some reservations.

Khan said they had to do mostly with legislative matters. “We respect their concerns and want to resolve these amiably,” he said, “We will present the model for a provincial HEC to the federal government soon.”

Khan said there would be no rolling back on the subject. The delay in executing the provincial government’s plans announced in December was a result of discussions with the federal government, he said.

Meanwhile, officials at the Punjab Higher Education Department say that the formation of new provincial bodies would require sorting out operational and jurisdictional matters.

Higher Education Department Secretary Tahir Mahmoood Khan told The Express Tribune that the federal and provincial authorities were still deliberating on the issue.

“The 18th Amendment allows for several interpretations regarding the HEC’s devolution...the authorities are trying to reach a common understanding on it,” he said. “The HEC itself is a legal entity...that, too, is being taken into consideration.”

He said the provinces could not legislate on such matters without an understanding with the federal government.

So far, none of the provinces has been able to form a provincial HEC because of a Supreme Court ruling, Khan said.

HEC Executive Director Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said there was no harm in devolving the subject to the provinces, provided that this was done in a systematic way.

“In my professional opinion, there is absolutely no harm in doing so,” he said, “what needs to be ensured is harmony in policy at the national level to be implemented in all the provinces.”  Dr Ahmed said uniformity and consensus on issues pertaining to research priorities, quality standards, degree recognition and curriculum should be settled at the federal level.

He stressed the need for a rigorous “transformation process” to devolve the HEC to the provinces thorough a detailed legislative exercise. He said it was not possible to set a timeframe for that.

He said proposals including the establishment of task forces to formulate a federal commission, including chairmen of all provincial HEC bodies could help ensure conformity with a national policy.

“There is no denying that certain matters including policy making require consensus at the national level, not just for better coordination with provinces but also with international bodies.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2014.