Education reforms: HEC doesn’t support Punjab commission law

Spokesperson says HEC was not consulted on provincial ordinance

LAHORE:

There is scepticism at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) about the recently promulgated Punjab Higher Education Commission Ordinance.

HEC officials say the provincial government did not consult them on the legislation.

The formation of the commission has been under discussion for a year.

The ordinance, promulgated by the governor on September 27, calls for the establishment of a provincial commission to regulate universities in the province.

There are more than 660 public colleges in the Punjab and another 29 will be set up this year, according to the Higher Education Department.

There are 26 universities in the province.

The ordinance provides for regulation and funding of universities by the proposed commission.



“The provincial commission will provide an efficient and autonomous system for higher education institutions… and greater availability of funds for universities,” said Arif Hussain Bhatti, a spokesperson for Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan.

Bhatti said academics across the province had been calling for such a commission. He said the ordinance would be tables at the provincial assembly.

It has to be passed by the assembly in three months, he pointed out.

Ayesha Ikram, a spokesperson for HEC chairperson Mukhtar Ahmed, said the commission had not been not consulted regarding the ordinance.

“We were neither consulted nor given a copy of the ordinance,” Ikram told The Express Tribune.

She said the Supreme Court had called for an amendment to the HEC Ordinance 2002 before the establishment of provincial HECs. “The issue has to be taken up first by the Council of Common Interests (CCI),” she said.

Higher Education department Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal said there was a need to need to redefine the role of the HEC in light of the 18th Amendment. Some of the regulation had to be done at the provincial level, he said.

Sumbal said after the establishment of the provincial commission, the Higher Education Department would largely focus on affairs of the colleges.

“This does not mean the department will be washing its hands off universities. We will be working on the improvement of higher education institutions in the province,” he said.

The secretary said vice chancellors across the province favoured a provincial commission.

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