The Higher Education Commission (HEC) stands on death row. Appeals for reprieve have been rejected by the commission responsible for implementation of the Eighteenth Amendment. That commission’s chairman, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, declared that “the HEC act will be revisited and reframed to shed its role as a centralised funding authority.”
His logic is that this constitutional amendment requires devolution of several powers to the four provinces. Since education is among them, universities cannot be federally administered. Instead, a brand new commission is to be created under the cabinet division. Other HEC functions would be turned over to various ministries and provincial administrations.
At first glance, disbanding the HEC appears to be a good idea. Its record is less than stellar. From 2002 to 2008, its budget rose by an astounding seven times — a world record. But a good chunk was squandered on various delusional mega-projects that failed spectacularly. Then, although it led to serious degradation of quality, the HEC encouraged the number of universities to double, and then triple. The number of PhD students registered at various universities was also made to explode. When confronted by students and teachers who were unwilling to meet international standards, the HEC backtracked on its quality guidelines.
The maladministration of universities by the HEC makes for a long list. Hyper-inflated salaries, recommended by the HEC, have made higher education more expensive. A full tenure-track professor nowadays can make up to Rs325,000 per month, about 30 to 35 times a schoolteacher’s maximum salary. Many produce only junk research and have poor teaching ability. Even today, the HEC puts out spurious data that mislead the public into believing that there has been some sort of educational revolution.
One might also wish to support the government’s decision from a second angle. After all, self-administration by the provinces is to be welcomed as a general principle. It could be argued, for example, that if a province is now to be in charge of its mineral wealth then it should also run its own universities. But caution should take precedence over legalism and a desire for sweeping changes. The steps to be taken, of which dispensing with the HEC is one part, will have huge consequences for Pakistan’s universities. Therefore, instead of jumping to conclusions, one must take a sober look and discuss the pros and cons.
First, the HEC’s record is not entirely bleak. It sent students to overseas universities, attracted foreign faculty to teach in local universities, created digital library access and took some positive initiatives to encourage research. Although programme implementation was flawed, these represented some progress in a country where good news is preciously short. Moreover, a full balance sheet of the HEC’s good and bad deeds is not essential for answering the question posed in the title. Rather, one must ask: What will be the consequences of the proposed devolution? Will it improve or degrade Pakistan’s higher education system?
Although I have been strongly critical of the shenanigans of the former HEC leadership, in my opinion, the government is headed in the wrong direction.
Instant dismemberment or serious disempowerment of the HEC is a recipe for producing chaos. Creating another bureaucracy or handing over the reins to existing provincial education bureaucracies, which are even more myopic and less competent than those at the federal centre, will negatively impact the quality of university education in Pakistan. This quality is already much lower compared to India, China or Iran.
The few checks and balances that currently exist, and which are actually enforced by the HEC, would disappear. Academic decisions would be made by those who have little understanding of how universities should function. This would push the system towards free fall. A wild policy zigzag is the last thing that Pakistan needs.
Instead, a responsible and nuanced approach is needed.
This means devolving surely, but slowly and carefully. Provincial administrations should be helped to build technical capacity so that they can be properly entrusted with key decisions, such as granting charters to new universities, university admission policies, etc. And while the HEC ought to be slowly downsized, some of its essential functions — such as quality control, foreign scholarships, and donor programmes — must be kept intact under federal control.
(This article was also published in The Express Tribune)
Well Prof Hoodhboy has long been a critic and opponent of Dr. Ata-Ur-Rahman, and I think some of this does spill over into his opinions on the HEC.
However the opinions of 40 University VCs from both public and private sector Universities must count for something. The all opposed the devolution of the HEC.
Speaking from a students point of view,as i did my BS and MS from 2002-2009,what HEC has done is nothing short of a revolution ,and what if a 50yrs+ Phd professor gets 325,000 Rs,i think he deserves this sum.
Scholarship,Affiliations with foreign universities,Standardizing the university curriculum along with reating teaching standards at graduate and under grad level is not a small achievement if you look at the environment we live in.yes,some projects might have failed and might have costed some but if you look at the overall picture the tenure of Dr.Ata-Ur-Rehman was a success.I personally know lot of current PHDs who went under the HEC scholarship program to various European universities and now are teaching in various universities in Pakistan.I think writer has been too critical in the first part of his article regarding the HEC.if you look from a neutral view keeping the harsh realities of government sector in Pakistan what HEC has done in last 6-8 years is nothing short of a revolution.
I generally don’t agree with the comments of Prof Hoodbhoy on HEC for years, but I think having another opinion balance out for the right direction, especially for prestigious institutes like HEC. On HEC devolution, his remarks are also extremely important, (and I was desperately waiting to hear from him) looking at the pro and cons of this decision. However, I find contradiction, in his opinion, the government is headed in the wrong direction, and than he said ‘devolving surely, but slowly and carefully’ and ‘some of its essential functions must be kept intact under federal control’.
If this mean finding a mid way between the Government current stance and the people who are against HEC devolution, than I think he is still consistant with his thoughts that HEC is a useless organisation. While the people who want to see HEC in current format have different opinion.
Hoodbhoy is full of it, sorry to say. He was an arch nemesis of Dr. Ata and has accepted that in this article. He has very dubious credentials but is still serving in a public university. One wonders how come a public university ‘professor’ enjoys such liberty even in the western countries. I think he is now afraid of losing his perks if the devolution takes place. He has many other avenues of income so this should not trouble him.
What has become of the other departments handed over to the provinces. Politicians took long long time to agree on one thing and then there was no spade work to at the provincial level to take over the responsibilities of the shifted departments.
Please do not allow this government to make a mess of everything. Can’t we see that this happening to punish and cover up the fake degrees scandal. Come on guys, wake up please. We need to rise and speak up. NOW!!!!