Reacting over the initial discussion and decisions related to higher education sector in post 18th Constitutional Amendment scenario during recent meeting of Council of Common Interests(CCI)
Islamabad, (Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2018) Reacting over the initial discussion and decisions related to higher education sector in post 18th Constitutional Amendment scenario during recent meeting of Council of Common Interests(CCI), the Working Group on Higher Education Reforms (WGHER) appreciated the decision of the CCI regarding enhancing the role of provincial governments in higher education sector and demanded to amend act of Higher Education Commission (HEC) as per 18th Constitutional Amendment and decision of multi-party Constitutional Implementation Commission headed by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani on immediate basis.
The 8 years long delay, in this regard, has adversely affected performance of higher education in Pakistan. The working group comprising of senior academicians, higher education experts and elected office bearers of Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) also demanded that as per decision of Lahore High Court and Entry 12 of Federal Legislative List Part II, standards in higher education should be formulated and reviewed in consultation with the concerned stakeholders especially provincial governments and elected representatives of university faculty.
The provincial governments should undertake the financial responsibility of provincial universities through respective autonomous bodies led by senior academicians i.e provincial Higher Education Commissions (PHECs) which have already been established by two large provinces. They hoped that remaining two provinces would also expedite process in establishment of such similar autonomous bodies. They emphasized over transfer of higher education funding to the provinces as per true spirit of 18th Amendment.
They also criticized the proposal of national level testing body in higher education sector which was already rejected by Task Force and Steering Committee on Higher Education in 2002. This step would also undermine the autonomy of the universities as each university has its own testing mechanism according to its admission requirements. The selection and shortlisting of students is the responsibility of universities not any centralized testing body, which is carried out as per the unique requirements available facilities and the masses of applicants.
They were of the view that without empowering provinces, which have more than 80% of total universities of Pakistan under their legislative and administrative control, desired results of improving higher education could not be achieved. The provincial nominees in Federal HEC should be directly nominated by the provincial governments/provincial HECs in order to ensure genuine representation of the provinces in formulation of standards. They appealed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, to implement the unanimous decisions of Senate Committee on Devolution regarding amending HEC Act and confining its role as per 18th Constitutional Amendment, extending retirement age of university faculty from 60 to 65 years and restoration of tax rebate up to 75%.
