ISLAMABAD: The former Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Prof Attaur Rahman, says corrupt politicians, having their eyes on Rs40 billion annual budget of the HEC and on prime lands worth billions, are out to destroy it (HEC), but Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are against its dissolution.
corrupt politicians, having their eyes on Rs40 billion annual budget of the HEC and on prime lands worth billions, are out to destroy it (HEC), but Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are against its dissolution.
“This will be a national disaster of horrendous magnitude that will push Pakistan back by 40-50 years. We have already seen the mess in the provinces at school level education through the multiplicity of standards
He said the HEC was the baby of the prime minister, who appointed its chairman and its governing body members. He appealed to him to intervene and save this wonderful organization rather than allowing it to be carved up into little pieces and handed over to the provinces.
The president and the prime minister need to personally intervene and stop this tragic development.Prof Attaur Rahman asked if HEC’s dissolution was not contempt of the Supreme Court, what it was. “In its landmark judgment, the court had asked the Election Commission to get MPs’ degrees verified by the HEC.
The HEC’s dissolution and movement of its core function of degree recognition and maintenance of standards under the Cabinet Division means the government would now have direct control on whose degree to recognize and whose to not recognize. The shift of the HEC degree recognition and attestation function to the Cabinet Division has nothing to do with devolution and everything to do with MPs with fake degrees.”
He said that the 18th Amendment changed the 4th Schedule of the Constitution and added key provisions, having links to higher education, to the Federal Legislative List: All regulatory authorities established under a Federal law; national planning and national economic coordination, including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research; legal, medical and other professions; standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions; and inter-provincial matters and coordination.
According to him, all powers and functions of the HEC defined under its legislation are covered and protected in these five provisions of the 18th Amendment through the 4th Schedule (Article 70(4) Federal Legislative Lists Part-I and Part-II). Moreover, the 18th Amendment fully supports and protects the HEC’s current powers and functions from devolution and specifically mentions higher education and research as federal subjects.
Prof Attaur Rahman said all the Vice Chancellors of public sector universities unanimously resolved in November 2010 that the HEC functionality should not be changed and the status quo be maintained since the HEC has performed exceptionally well and it is completely covered under the 18th amendment.
He said that discussions with the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments have made it clear that they did not desire the devolution of higher education to the provinces since it is believed that higher education is part of the Federal List in the 18th Amendment. These provinces are extremely satisfied with the HEC performance.
Prof Attaur Rahman said that an impartial analysis of the constitutional, strategic, functional and operational impact of the 18th Amendment on higher education leads to the clear conclusion that the HEC legislation should not be modified, and the status quo of operation of the HEC should be maintained.
He said that the Pakistan government has successfully negotiated a $300 million Tertiary Education Support Programme with the World Bank that would provide budgetary support to the Finance Ministry so that the HEC medium term development framework 2011-16 focused on universities building economies, communities and leadership. It requires that the HEC legal structure should not be unilaterally altered by the government. Essentially, the HEC has the credibility and confidence of the international development agencies and were the HEC to be changed, and the World Bank funding would no longer be available, he feared.
Prof Attaur Rahman said that the HEC was an autonomous body, reporting directly to the prime minister and not any division. Two thirds of its members are appointed by the prime minister from a panel of three names of eminent academics. They are nominated for a four-year term and may not be removed, save on proven charges of corruption, inefficiency, permanent disability. This structure is what gives the HEC autonomy and allows it to pursue its function with merit and rule of law as the only arbiters. This is what permitted the HEC to defy every pressure and not verify degrees of the MPs that did not meet its set strict standards of verification. Without autonomy, a new commission will then presumably rapidly clear the backlog of unverified degrees of MPs, he said.
He said the new commission would also have the power to recognize new universities being formed all over Pakistan that are substandard and did not meet the existing cabinet criteria for a university. Already, many such cases have been blocked by the HEC and not granted recognition since they do not have faculty, libraries, Internet connectivity and are housed in few room structures. By granting recognition to such entities, the degrees of all Pakistani universities will become suspect, he apprehended.
Prof Attaur Rahman said the HEC attests more than 200,000 educational documents each year. Every Pakistani going for work abroad must have their degrees attested by the HEC which is recognized by the entire world to be a fair and impartial body whose attestation is accepted at face value. The HEC is a Board Member of the Asia Pacific Quality Network and is a member of the Network of Quality Assurance Agencies of the World. This membership has to be earned and is not transferable. The world has faith in the degrees of Pakistani universities because of the HEC. By creating a new commission, all degrees issued by Pakistani institutions will not be accepted at face value despite any stamp that any new commission may issue. The world is carefully following the fake degree scandal of Pakistani MPs and can see what the dissolution of HEC entails, he said.
He said that today researchers from the Kohat University of Science and Technology publish more papers in the world’s leading research journals than many local universities established decades ago; the University of Gujrat boasts as the best Industrial Design department in Pakistan; Karakoram International University, Gilgit, hosts the Rector of the University of Bonn Germany to study climate change; Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, works with Egyptian biotechnologists for propagation of date palms while researchers at the Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, are pioneering shrimp farming on the Balochistan Coast.
These, he said, are some glimpses into the accomplishments of the universities that have been established during the past eight years only while those that existed before have gone on to join the ranks of the premier science and technology universities of the world, such as the National University of Science and Technology ranked number 274 in the World in 2010 while the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, is ranked 281 by QS World University Rankings. From the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, to Cambridge University in the UK, just about every leading university in the world has close academic and research linkages with top Pakistani universities, he said.
Prof Attaur Rahman said that the HEC, in fact, was the regulatory body for higher education since it prescribed conditions under which universities were opened and operated and also has ultimate authority for recognition of degrees, diplomas and certificates issued by the universities. He said that the subject of the higher education has close, deep and multidimensional links to the National Policy and Planning; Economic Growth; Scientific and Technical Research; Defence Production; Industrial Growth and National Innovation System.
0 comments:
Post a Comment