Higher Education Commission (Pakistan)

Higher Education Commission

Agency overview
Formed	Established in 1947 as UGC Current form since 2002
Preceding	University Grants Commission (UGC)
Jurisdiction	Constitution of Pakistan
Headquarters	Islamabad, Pakistan
Motto	Facilitating Institutes of higher learning to serve as an Engine of Growth for the Socio-Economic Development of Pakistan
Annual budget	₨88 billion+6 billion for Ehsas scholarships
Agency executive	Tariq Banuri, Chairman
Key document	Government of Pakistan
Website	www.hec.gov.pk

Founded in September 2002, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is an independent, autonomous, and statutory institution of primary funding, overseeing, regulating, and accrediting the higher education institutions in Pakistan. It replaced the University Grants Commission (UGC), which had been established in 1947. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman was the HEC's founding chairman.

The HEC operates directly under the prime minister and is not subservient to the Ministry of Education. It has been made mandated to formulate higher education policy and to ensure quality.

Major developments in the higher education sector occurred during 2002-2008. The remarkable transformation in the higher education sector was acknowledged in an article in the world's leading science journal, Nature, in which Rahman was called a "force of nature" After Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman resigned in protest in 2008 due to the suspension of scholarships of thousands of students abroad by the PPP government, the university development programs slowed down due to cut in budget and introduction of cumbersome bureaucratic procedures..

The HEC also facilitated the development of the higher education system with the objective of upgrading universities and degree-awarding colleges in the country. Over the years, the HEC has played an important role in building a knowledge-based economy in Pakistan by giving hundreds of doctoral scholarships for education abroad every year.

History

1947–1971: Genesis and development

Literacy rates since 1951–2009

At the time of Pakistan's establishment in 1947, the country had only one institution of higher learning, i.e., the Punjab University and among forty colleges expanded to four provinces of Pakistan. Education policy revised by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan who adopted various recommendations of mathematician Ziauddin Ahmad, the government established various universities and colleges. This led the establishment of University Grants Commission (UGC). The same year, Mohammad Ali Jinnah held a National Education Conference of academics and other stakeholders to revise the policy of higher education. He stated:

... [The] importance of education and the type of education cannot be over-emphasized ... There is no doubt that the future of our State [of Pakistan] will and must greatly depend upon the type of education we give to our children and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan... We should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction....

— Muhammad Ali Jinnah, 1947

The government accepted many recommendations of the conference. Consequently, the UGC was established as a federal regulatory institution in 1947. Efforts led by Prime Minister Huseyn Suhrawardy led to the introduction of Soviet-style five-year plan, which explained the first official education policy in 1956. The first plan was an attempt to make education development suitable for the socio-economic development in the country.

The literacy line graph in the four provinces.

In 1959, the government recognized the need for expanding powers granted to the UGC and appointed the UGC as federal commission. In the 1960s, the financial policies and economic programs introduced by President Ayub Khan greatly emphasized the importance of higher education in the country. A huge revenue and a huge percentile of budget was actually spent to promote higher education efforts in the country. Thesis written by Usman Ali Isani pointed out that ₨912 million was spent annually for the fiscal period of 1960–65 in a joint collaboration led by MoF, MoEd, UGC and Planning Commission. Colleges were transformed into full-scale research universities and special research institutes were established in all over the country. According to the calculations performed by the Ministry of Statistics and published by Isani, around 430,000 students were enrolled in different universities to pursue their higher education over the fiscal period of 1960–65. From 1965 to 1971, the government spent Rs173.8 million on the education sector as opposed to actual allocations of Rs278.6 million.

1971-2000s: Revision and policies

After the 1971 war with India, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, the new education policy was announced with the implementation of nationalization programme in 1972, by the PPP. Under this policy, all two-year colleges were transformed to university status under the state-controlled policy; privatized universities were nationalized. During this time, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had the MoF spent 70% of resources on higher education efforts; enrollment in the universities increased to 56%. Prime Minister Bhutto's government sought to integrated social change; thus economic progress through nationalization.

In 1979, President Zia-ul-Haq's announced "The National Education Policy, 1979" (NEP-79) which saw the harmonization of higher education with Islamic concepts and the national ideology. President Zia's policies led to the growth of fundamentalist ideas in the higher education system. In 1992, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced a "National Education Policy 1992" (NEP-92) to streamline the process of higher education. This was followed by the eighth five-year plan launched by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1993, focusing on primary education.

2000s-Present: New Era

Pakistan ranked in lowest in literacy rate of South Asia.

The different higher education policies, priorities, and the need of competition between the political forces in Pakistan led to disturbances in the higher education as well as effecting the UGC's ability. The inadequate financial funding and policy implementation never matched the need for higher education in the country. In 2002, President Pervez Musharraf took the initiative of transforming the University Grants Commission into Higher Education Commission.

President Musharraf invited Dr. Atta ur Rahman to be its first chair and immediately promulgated a presidential ordinance on September 11, 2002, establishing the HEC. Over the years, the HEC implemented its ambitious program of enhancing access, improving quality and increased relevance of higher education to the needs of Pakistan. The reforms carried out in science and higher education under the leadership of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman when he was the Federal Minister of Science and Technology and later Chairman of Higher Education Commission with status of Federal Minister during 2000 to 2008 have been applauded by many international experts and he was called "a force of nature" in an article published in Nature. As a result of the many reforms introduced by Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman in the higher education sector four Pakistani universities became ranked among the top 300, 400 and 500 universities of the world under the 2008 Times Higher Education rankings. The situation in the higher education sector deteriorated in the subsequent decade with the rankings of all universities slipping. Dr Javaid Laghari was the second HEC chairman (2009-2013). He tried to continue the higher education reforms despite serious cuts in funding and opposition by the government. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed replaced him in April 2013. In May 2018, Prof. Dr. Tariq Banuri, a Harvard alumnus, was appointed the fourth HEC chairman.

In December 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the creation of a task force on "technology-driven knowledge economy". The prime minister himself chairs it. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman was named its vice-chairman. The group has several key federal ministers as its members, including the ministers for finance, planning, information technology, the adviser on commerce and the HEC chairman. The task force has the mandate to promote research in technology and to initiate projects that can use science and technology for sustainable and equitable socio-economic development..

Programs and projects

HEC main programs are following:

• Degree Attestation
• HEC Entrance Test Council
• Faculty development
• Curriculum revision
• Higher education infrastructure development
• Indigenous scholarships
• Foreign scholarships
• Patent filing support
• Conference travel grants
• Increase industry and university research collaboration
• Developing new technology parks
• HEC Laptop Scheme

Governance in HEC

HEC Divisions

The Active and listed HEC Division(s)
Academics Division Accreditation Division Finance and Budget Division Human Resource Development Division Learning and Innovative Division Human Research Management Division Quality Assurance Division Planning and Development Division Research and Development Division

The HEC chairman is assisted by the secretaries of education, science and technology, telecommunications, and information technology. The Chairman and secretaries are assisted by the additional members who are appointed from the four provinces as well as university vice-chancellors. Other members are included from state and private-sector and executive director of the HEC.

The HEC chairman is appointed by the prime minister for a four-year term based on the recommendation by the Ministry of Education. The names of shortlisted candidates are forwarded to for the final decision.

The prime minister has the right to re-appoint or give extension to the chairman. Though the executive director is the administrative head of the HEC, almost every decision in the commission is taken with the consent of the chairman.

Finance and budget

Science is a lucrative profession in Pakistan and the official science policy plays a major role in the allocation of budget in the country. Since revitalized in 2002, the HEC's budget increased up to 340.2% in terms of fiscal period of 2001–06.

By 2008, as a result of its policy and financial successes, most universities became strong proponents of the HEC. The quality improved significantly. Many Pakistani expatriates returned to their motherland because of competitive salaries. In addition to generous funding by the government of Pakistan, the US government also provided financial assistance to universities.

Impact of higher education reforms

International praise

The HEC has received praise from the international higher education observers. Prof. Atta-ur_Rahman has received a number of prestigious international awards for the remarkable transformation of higher education. Dr. Wolfgang Voelter of Tübingen University in Germany reviewed the HEC's performance and described the reforms in HEC as a miracle. After teaching and visiting 15 Pakistani universities, he wrote that the "scenario of education, science, and technology in Pakistan has changed dramatically, as never before in the history of the country. The chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Education recently announced the first six years of HEC under Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman as "Pakistan's golden period in higher education". Recently ThomsonReuters in an independent assessment of Pakistan's progress in international publications has acknowledged that in the last decade there has been a fourfold increase in international publications and a tenfold growth in highly cited papers, statistics that were better than the BRIC countries

Fred M. Hayward, an American academic, also praised the HEC, saying that "since 2002, a number of extraordinary changes have taken place." Hayward pointed out that "over the last six years almost 4,000 scholars have participated in Ph.D. programs in Pakistan in which more than 600 students have studied in foreign Ph.D. programs." The HEC instituted major upgrades for scientific laboratories, rehabilitating existing educational facilities, expanding the research support, and overseeing the development of one of the best digital libraries in the region. Seeking to meet international standard, a quality assurance and accreditation process was also established, of which, ~95% of students sent abroad for training returned, an unusually high result for a developing country in response to improved salaries and working conditions at universities as well as bonding and strict follow-up by the commission, Fulbright, and others."

The HEC's achievements were also applauded by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD), which reported that the "progress made was breathtaking and has put Pakistan ahead of comparable countries in numerous aspects." In limited time, the HEC established and provided free access to scientific literature by high-speed Internet for all universities, the upgrade of research equipment accessible across the country, and the program of establishing new universities of science and technology, including science parks attracted the foreign investors, prove the efficiency and the long-term benefits for the country enabled. The UNCSTD has closely monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that HEC's program initiated under the leadership of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman is a "best-practice" example for developing countries aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based economy.".

Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman has won four international awards for the revolutionary changes in the higher education sector brought in the HEC. The Austrian government conferred its highest civil award (“Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande") in recognition of his eminent contributions. Nature, a leading science journal, has also written a number of editorials and articles about the transformation brought about in Pakistan in the higher education sector under the HEC. In an article entitled "Pakistan Threat to Indian Science" published in the leading daily newspaper Hindustan Times, India, it has been reported that Prof. C. N. R. Rao, Chairman of the Indian prime minister's Scientific Advisory Council made a presentation to the Indian prime minister at the rapid progress made by Pakistan in the higher education sector under the leadership of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Higher Education Commission. It was reported that as a result of the reforms brought about in Pakistan " Pakistan may soon join China in giving India serious competition in science". "Science is a lucrative profession in Pakistan. It has tripled the salaries of its scientists in the last few years.". Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman was conferred the highest national Award of the Republic of China in September 2014 for his contributions to develop strong linkages between Pakistan and China in various fields of higher education, science and technology.

Dr Javaid Laghari, the second chairman, continued the reform process. During his four-year term, the international ranking of Pakistani universities improved despite budgetary cuts and other problems faced by HEC, and eight Pakistan universities were ranked among the top 250 universities of Asia, according to the 2013 QS World University Rankings. Research output out of Pakistan increased by over 50% within three years, which was the second-highest increase worldwide. According to the Scimago world scientific database, if Pakistan continues at the same pace, its ranking will improve from 43 to 27 globally by 2017. In 2016, Thomson Reuters acknowledged the tenfold increase in highly cited papers from Pakistan as a result of the remarkable reform process and concluded that the rate of increase was higher than in Brazil, Russia, India and China

Achievements

The creation of HEC has had a positive impact on higher education and research culture in Pakistan.

• Established the finest digital library in Pakistan. Every public sector university student has access to 45,000 textbooks and research monographs from 220 international publishers as well as to 25,000 international research journals, regarded as one of the best digital libraries anywhere in the world.
• Tripled university enrollment from 135,000 in the year 2003 to 400,000 in 2008.
• Promoted research, resulting in a huge expansion of international research publications from Pakistan from only 600 research papers /yr in 2003 to 4300 research papers in 2008.
• Up to 2003 not a single Pakistani university was ranked among the top 600 universities in the world. Today two Pakistani universities are ranked among the top 200 world’s technology universities.
• Four-year undergraduate program introduced so that our degrees are internationally recognized, Along with a three-credit-hour research-based activity and enforcing a minimum attendance <50%
• About 5000 Ph.D. level scholarships awarded for study in technologically advanced countries (largest program in the developing world) and some 3,000 indigenous Ph.D. scholarships have been awarded. The world’s largest Fulbright Scholarship program ($150 million) launched with joint funding (HEC/USAID).
• Fifty-one new universities and degree-awarding institutes and 18 campuses of existing universities established during (2003–2008).
• Sending of 1000 Pakistani students to study medicine in Cuba and doing their best to register their degrees by PMDC and soon will send a delegation of members of PMDC, HEC and MNAs
• For the first time, seven Pakistan universities were ranked among the top 250 universities of Asia, according to the 2013 QS World University Rankings.
• Research output of Pakistan increased by over 50% within two years, which was the second-highest increase worldwide. If Pakistan continues at the same pace, its ranking will improve from 43 to 27 globally by 2017, wrote the Scimago world scientific database. In 2017, a Chinese study published in Scientometrics (journal) revealed that Pakistan's research growth rate and time required to double the number of publications is superior than that of the US, China and India.

Videoconferencing

The objective of this facility is to improve the student-teacher interaction, meet the shortage of faculty members at the universities located in far-flung areas and raise the standard of education in Pakistan.

Eminent Pakistani scholars deliver interactive lectures on various topics and recorded lectures from foreign universities are also broadcast. The lectures are aimed to develop fundamental concepts, to enhance the critical thinking of undergraduate and graduate students and to discuss cutting-edge technologies/research work in the fields of modern sciences for students and faculty members. In the second stage, interactive lectures from foreign universities will be arranged. Nobel Laureates, eminent scientists and researchers will be invited to deliver lectures to share their knowledge. In the second phase, this program will be expanded to the remaining 32 universities.

Currently, there are more than 65 sites that are benefiting from this facility to conduct lectures, meetings, and other events.

Attendances regarding undergraduate research program

At the end of every academic year, a three-credit-hour research-based activity is not envisioned. The attendance criteria of 70-75 percent are not strictly applied to undergraduate research classes.

Political overview

In spite of its achievements, the HEC was criticized by Prof. Pervez Hoodbhoy, who maintained that "HEC has made higher education more expensive." Numerous eminent national and international scholars and scientists have contracted this claim. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan termed HEC as "a strategic organization."

In 2010, under the Eighteenth Amendment the devolution of the HEC was proposed. Academics, politicians, social activists, and media figures strongly opposed it. Scientists working for the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, PAS held a conference to gain public support for the protection of HEC. The then HEC chairman, Javaid Laghari, who was a former senator and president of a private university, i.e., SZABIST, declared that the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) unconstitutional. The status of the executive director, which was equal to a federal secretary, was downgraded by the PPP government.

Anti-PPP demonstrations broke out in various parts of the country over this issue in 2011 and students raised their voice against devolution of the HEC. In 2012, two petitions signed by Rahman, were filed before the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the devolution of HEC and to preserve the autonomy of HEC. The Supreme Court approved the petitions thereby preventing its devolution under the 18th amendment and guaranteeing its autonomy. the court issue verdicts against the government's decision. Ultimately, the Supreme Court rendered its verdict on a petition filed by Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman in 2010 to preserve the autonomy of HEC, paralyzing any efforts of government to devolve the HEC.

See also

• List of universities in Pakistan
• Pakistan Academy of Sciences

Further reading

• "The paradox of Pakistan". Nature 450 (7170): 585–200. 2007. doi:10.1038/450585a. PMID 18046348. edit
• doi:0.1038/461874c
• "After Musharraf.". Nature 454 (7208): 1030–2008. 2008. doi:10.1038/4541030a. PMID 18756204. edit
• Osama, A.; Najam, A.; Kassim-Lakha, S.; Zulfiqar Gilani, S.; King, C. (2009). "Pakistan's reform experiment". Nature 461 (7260): 38–39. doi:10.1038/461038a. PMID 19727184.
• "Cash costs.". Nature 461 (7260): 11–12. 2009. doi:10.1038/461011b. PMID 19727158. edit

External links

• Official Website
• HEC's Ranking of Universities in Pakistan
• Pakistan Education and Research Network (PERN)
• [1]
• Higher Education Commission's diploma mill alert page
• Higher Education Commission's Videoconferencing Page
• HEC-Vision-2025