New measures: Bailouts for cash-strapped varsities on cards

HEC reviewing criteria for university rankings, plagiarism policy.

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC), for the first time, will receive complete budgetary allocations this year, says HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad.

He said that the commission feared it would also face a 30 per cent cut due to across-the-board austerity measures, but it was eventually exempted.

Briefing the media on Wednesday, he said the HEC is reviewing all its previous policies and criteria for university rankings and plagiarism checking.

The HEC is also setting up a web-based television channel, a radio station, and a call centre to better facilitate students.

The commission has also signed an agreement with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited to provide free EVO Wi-Fi devices to students under the prime minister’s laptop scheme.

Initially, seven universities from the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have been selected for the ‘smart universities’ project, which will be launched on August 14.

The chairman said the HEC is chalking out a strategy to bail out varsities facing financial problems. “We are also looking to train non-teaching staff in good governance and professional use of resources and funds,” he said.

The HEC has received 34,000 applications so far for the prime minister’s fee reimbursement scheme, worth Rs1.3 billion.

Ahmad said the HEC is also introducing non-credit compulsory courses on entrepreneurship, social responsibility, ethics, and community service.

He said the commission will also define basic criterion for fee increases at private universities. In addition to this, the HEC has also warned some varsities to meet minimum standards or face closure.

To a question, Dr Ahmad said the commission is working to improve the online degree verification system, besides providing attestation facilities in all provincial capitals.

The HEC has offered over 7,500 overseas MS and PhD scholarships so far. Of them, 3,300 have completed their studies. The commission will be focusing on far-flung areas of the country for higher education development in coming years, the chairman said.

Ahmad said the HEC will take over the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University from the next fiscal year.

He said the HEC is still verifying and attesting the degrees of parliamentarians and government officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2014.