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HEC saved from devolution
HEC may continue in present form
Islamabad, May 02: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has finally been saved from devolution through commitment made by President Asif Ali Zardari to the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) during their talks.
According to well-placed sources, among the various demands that the PML-Q put forward before the President, one was to retain the federal role of the HEC, currently put on hold pending the establishment of Commission for Standard Higher Education.
The president, according to the information, has accepted the demand about HEC. He has committed that HEC would continue to work under its present legal status, revealed the source.
It has also been learnt that the president said that the mechanism to retain the federal role of HEC would be decided later on. It is more likely that a committee of legal experts would be constituted to design a mechanism through which HEC could be saved from devolution, he said.
MNA Marvi Memon said that she could not speak about her party s policy and even did not have information about what happened during the talks between the president and leadership of PML-Q.
I am personally convinced that HEC should continue to work with its current independent status and there is no need to constitute any new commission that would work under the Cabinet Division, she said.
PML-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain Sayed in his press conference held sometime back clearly stated that his party opposed the planned devolution of HEC and would resist any move aimed at subjugating the national institution .
HEC Chairperson Dr Javaid Laghari said that he had no clue if the president has accepted this demand of PML-Q. We, however, expect the democratic government to honour the wishes of the people of Pakistan and save HEC from devolution, he said.
He said that now it was not a matter to save HEC from devolution but to let it work in its current status. The point here is to let HEC work in its existing shape and not to introduce some new commission and new legislation in this regard, he added.
Despite repeated attempts by these correspondents presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar was not available for comments.
Earlier, the meeting of Council of Common Interest (CCI) approved the proposal that the federal government would continue to fund the public sector universities till the next NFC award due in 2014.
The sources claimed that during the meeting of CCI the provinces showed their complete inability to run public sector universities at their own thus forcing the federal government to allocate funds for higher education sector in the upcoming federal budget.
Now the federal government would allocate funds for higher education sector in the next annual budget. The finance wing was quite active to get rid of the financial burden of the public sector universities but the provinces were not ready to take up the responsibility that was apparently beyond their financial capacity, the sources said.
It has been learnt reliably that chairperson of Implementation Commission, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, during the meeting of CCI severely criticised HEC and said that it should be devolved to the provinces. Rabbani was of the opinion that HEC was doing propaganda against government by saying that the government is taking revenge for HEC s strict stance in degree verification process, the source revealed.
Islamabad, May 02: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has finally been saved from devolution through commitment made by President Asif Ali Zardari to the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) during their talks.
According to well-placed sources, among the various demands that the PML-Q put forward before the President, one was to retain the federal role of the HEC, currently put on hold pending the establishment of Commission for Standard Higher Education.
The president, according to the information, has accepted the demand about HEC. He has committed that HEC would continue to work under its present legal status, revealed the source.
It has also been learnt that the president said that the mechanism to retain the federal role of HEC would be decided later on. It is more likely that a committee of legal experts would be constituted to design a mechanism through which HEC could be saved from devolution, he said.
MNA Marvi Memon said that she could not speak about her party s policy and even did not have information about what happened during the talks between the president and leadership of PML-Q.
I am personally convinced that HEC should continue to work with its current independent status and there is no need to constitute any new commission that would work under the Cabinet Division, she said.
PML-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain Sayed in his press conference held sometime back clearly stated that his party opposed the planned devolution of HEC and would resist any move aimed at subjugating the national institution .
HEC Chairperson Dr Javaid Laghari said that he had no clue if the president has accepted this demand of PML-Q. We, however, expect the democratic government to honour the wishes of the people of Pakistan and save HEC from devolution, he said.
He said that now it was not a matter to save HEC from devolution but to let it work in its current status. The point here is to let HEC work in its existing shape and not to introduce some new commission and new legislation in this regard, he added.
Despite repeated attempts by these correspondents presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar was not available for comments.
Earlier, the meeting of Council of Common Interest (CCI) approved the proposal that the federal government would continue to fund the public sector universities till the next NFC award due in 2014.
The sources claimed that during the meeting of CCI the provinces showed their complete inability to run public sector universities at their own thus forcing the federal government to allocate funds for higher education sector in the upcoming federal budget.
Now the federal government would allocate funds for higher education sector in the next annual budget. The finance wing was quite active to get rid of the financial burden of the public sector universities but the provinces were not ready to take up the responsibility that was apparently beyond their financial capacity, the sources said.
It has been learnt reliably that chairperson of Implementation Commission, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, during the meeting of CCI severely criticised HEC and said that it should be devolved to the provinces. Rabbani was of the opinion that HEC was doing propaganda against government by saying that the government is taking revenge for HEC s strict stance in degree verification process, the source revealed.
devolution of higher education comission to the provinces
Implementation Commission all set to devolve HEC to provinces
Islamabad, March 25: Making a somewhat tricky move, Implementation Commission has decided to devolve Higher Education Commission (HEC) to the provinces and have started consulting with provincial governments without taking HEC on board.
According to well-placed sources, Implementation Commission has approved the devolution of HEC despite the fact that it exists in the Federal Legislative List (FLL) while under 18th amendment only concurrent list is supposed to be devolved.
It has been learnt reliably that the Implementation Commission in its last meeting reviewed the HEC law for almost five hours after which they had decided to devolve it without taking HEC into confidence.
"The plan has been prepared very carefully. Federal government is trying to save its money by handing over HEC to provinces. In this way they would save money in the upcoming budget and would ask provinces to run HEC from the money they would get from NFC award," a source said.
On the other hand, the source said, provinces are having a misconception that they would get extra money as HEC budget. "The federal government has committed World Bank that it would allocate sufficient amount in higher education sector to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Once HEC would be devolved, the commitment would automatically come to an end," he added.
Meanwhile, provinces have been visited by the members of Implementation Commission to check their preparedness to take the responsibility. According to a member of the Implementation Commission, they have received positive response from the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa so far.
According to the sources, HEC has written a letter to Implementation Commission a month ago in which it was asked to brief them about its status and also to provide them an opportunity to give presentation on their role in the progress of higher education sector in the country. "There was no reply from Implementation Commission. It is now again that HEC has written a letter to the Implementation Commission to provide them an opportunity to present their achievements. Saturday is the date that has been decided for the meeting," said the source.
The source also revealed that they were not sure if HEC would get chance to give presentation. "We are simply clueless. We have prepared our presentation, but not sure if we would be allowed to present it, as Implementation Commission has already decided the matter," he said.
The education experts believe that the subject of higher education has close, deep and multidimensional links to national policy and planning, economic growth, scientific and technical research, defence production, industrial growth and national innovation system.
"Higher education is not a subject that is confined to national boundaries since it is imperative to have international recognition of degrees for which adherence to international quality assurance benchmark is a necessity," said a source.
Former HEC chairperson and Education Task Force Chairperson Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali said that the 18th amendment has added key provisions to the Federal Legislative List (FLL), which include all regulatory authorities established under a Federal Law, National planning and national economic coordination including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research, standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions, inter-provincial matters and co-ordination. "The federal role of HEC is inevitable for the policy, planning and coordination and it exists in FLL," she said.
She said that the role of provinces was already exists in higher education sector as Governor of any province is the chancellor of universities of that particular province and is an authority to hire Vice Chancellors of the universities. "What would be criteria of evaluating PhD degrees when every province would be having different standards to evaluate it," she said.
Terming it a disaster, HEC former chairperson Dr. Atta-ur Rehaman said that the decision would reverse back the tremendous growth that HEC has made over the last decade.
"Look at the progress HEC has made. There has been 600 percent increase in our publications in over the last decade. We have produced a number of Phd scholars in 10 years that have not been produced in last 60 years," he added.
He informed that he would be holding a press conference over this grave issue on Friday and would tell people that the devolution would have an adverse impact over the higher education sector.
It is pertinent to mention here that the vice chancellors of public and private sector universities visiting UK under 'leadership development training' took cognisance of the possible devolution of the HEC to the provinces. They have issued a resolution in which they stated that the HEC must continue in its current form, devolving HEC to the provinces and experiencing with the proposed model will cause devastation in higher education sector, after devaluation higher education sector would have the same fate as school and colleges under the provinces have suffered by the similar cavalier policies before us.
The resolution has been passed by 11 VCs that included the names of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) VC Dr. Nazir A Sangi, Behria University VC Vice Admiral (r) Mohammad Haroon, KPK University of Engineering and Technology VC Engineer Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gillani, University of Balochistan VC Professor Dr. Abdul Nabi, Gomal University VC Professor Dr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Hazara University VC Professor Dr. Sakhawat Shah, Kohat University of Science and Technology VC Professor Dr. Nasir Jamal Khattak, KPK Agriculture University VC Professor Dr. Khan Bahadar Marwat, Government College University Faisalabad Dr. Zakir Hussain, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology VC Dr. Salim-ur-Rehman, Isra University VC Dr. Ghulam Qadir Qazi and UET Taxila VC Prof Dr Muhammad Abbas Chaudhary.
HEC Executive Director Dr. Sohail Naqvi when contacted said that they haven't received anything officially till now. "We have just heard that the future of HEC has been decided. Our meeting in this regard with Implementation Commission is scheduled on Saturday," he said.
He said that after 18th amendment, HEC has become a subject that comes under Federal Legislative List (FLL). "It's not simple as in case of schools and colleges. The 80 per cent work on science and technology is conducted in universities. The federal role of HEC is inevitable for inter-provincial coordination of the research work being conducted in the universities," he said. The news
Islamabad, March 25: Making a somewhat tricky move, Implementation Commission has decided to devolve Higher Education Commission (HEC) to the provinces and have started consulting with provincial governments without taking HEC on board.
According to well-placed sources, Implementation Commission has approved the devolution of HEC despite the fact that it exists in the Federal Legislative List (FLL) while under 18th amendment only concurrent list is supposed to be devolved.
It has been learnt reliably that the Implementation Commission in its last meeting reviewed the HEC law for almost five hours after which they had decided to devolve it without taking HEC into confidence.
"The plan has been prepared very carefully. Federal government is trying to save its money by handing over HEC to provinces. In this way they would save money in the upcoming budget and would ask provinces to run HEC from the money they would get from NFC award," a source said.
On the other hand, the source said, provinces are having a misconception that they would get extra money as HEC budget. "The federal government has committed World Bank that it would allocate sufficient amount in higher education sector to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Once HEC would be devolved, the commitment would automatically come to an end," he added.
Meanwhile, provinces have been visited by the members of Implementation Commission to check their preparedness to take the responsibility. According to a member of the Implementation Commission, they have received positive response from the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa so far.
According to the sources, HEC has written a letter to Implementation Commission a month ago in which it was asked to brief them about its status and also to provide them an opportunity to give presentation on their role in the progress of higher education sector in the country. "There was no reply from Implementation Commission. It is now again that HEC has written a letter to the Implementation Commission to provide them an opportunity to present their achievements. Saturday is the date that has been decided for the meeting," said the source.
The source also revealed that they were not sure if HEC would get chance to give presentation. "We are simply clueless. We have prepared our presentation, but not sure if we would be allowed to present it, as Implementation Commission has already decided the matter," he said.
The education experts believe that the subject of higher education has close, deep and multidimensional links to national policy and planning, economic growth, scientific and technical research, defence production, industrial growth and national innovation system.
"Higher education is not a subject that is confined to national boundaries since it is imperative to have international recognition of degrees for which adherence to international quality assurance benchmark is a necessity," said a source.
Former HEC chairperson and Education Task Force Chairperson Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali said that the 18th amendment has added key provisions to the Federal Legislative List (FLL), which include all regulatory authorities established under a Federal Law, National planning and national economic coordination including planning and coordination of scientific and technological research, standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions, inter-provincial matters and co-ordination. "The federal role of HEC is inevitable for the policy, planning and coordination and it exists in FLL," she said.
She said that the role of provinces was already exists in higher education sector as Governor of any province is the chancellor of universities of that particular province and is an authority to hire Vice Chancellors of the universities. "What would be criteria of evaluating PhD degrees when every province would be having different standards to evaluate it," she said.
Terming it a disaster, HEC former chairperson Dr. Atta-ur Rehaman said that the decision would reverse back the tremendous growth that HEC has made over the last decade.
"Look at the progress HEC has made. There has been 600 percent increase in our publications in over the last decade. We have produced a number of Phd scholars in 10 years that have not been produced in last 60 years," he added.
He informed that he would be holding a press conference over this grave issue on Friday and would tell people that the devolution would have an adverse impact over the higher education sector.
It is pertinent to mention here that the vice chancellors of public and private sector universities visiting UK under 'leadership development training' took cognisance of the possible devolution of the HEC to the provinces. They have issued a resolution in which they stated that the HEC must continue in its current form, devolving HEC to the provinces and experiencing with the proposed model will cause devastation in higher education sector, after devaluation higher education sector would have the same fate as school and colleges under the provinces have suffered by the similar cavalier policies before us.
The resolution has been passed by 11 VCs that included the names of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) VC Dr. Nazir A Sangi, Behria University VC Vice Admiral (r) Mohammad Haroon, KPK University of Engineering and Technology VC Engineer Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gillani, University of Balochistan VC Professor Dr. Abdul Nabi, Gomal University VC Professor Dr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Hazara University VC Professor Dr. Sakhawat Shah, Kohat University of Science and Technology VC Professor Dr. Nasir Jamal Khattak, KPK Agriculture University VC Professor Dr. Khan Bahadar Marwat, Government College University Faisalabad Dr. Zakir Hussain, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology VC Dr. Salim-ur-Rehman, Isra University VC Dr. Ghulam Qadir Qazi and UET Taxila VC Prof Dr Muhammad Abbas Chaudhary.
HEC Executive Director Dr. Sohail Naqvi when contacted said that they haven't received anything officially till now. "We have just heard that the future of HEC has been decided. Our meeting in this regard with Implementation Commission is scheduled on Saturday," he said.
He said that after 18th amendment, HEC has become a subject that comes under Federal Legislative List (FLL). "It's not simple as in case of schools and colleges. The 80 per cent work on science and technology is conducted in universities. The federal role of HEC is inevitable for inter-provincial coordination of the research work being conducted in the universities," he said. The news
Nationalist Movements in Sindh and Question of Provincial Autonomy
Mirnority Rights Commission (MRC) organized a seminar on Nationalist Movement in Sindh and Question of Provincial Autonomy on July 3rd 2007 in Hyderabad. A large number of civil society organizations, political parties and media related groups, students, elected representatives, intellectuals and writers attended the forum. The forum was conducted in two sessions: first one was technical and the second political session. Mr. Zulfiqar Shah (Provincial Coordinator South Asia Partnership Sindh), Mr. Ghulam Mustafa Baloch (Reginal Head Strengthening Participatory Organization SPO Hyderabad) and Mr. Hassan Raza Bukhari (Coordinator MRC) facilitate these sessions.
First Session (Technical Session)
Mr. Zulfiqar Shah (Provincial Coordinator South Asia Partnership Sindh)
First session was started by Zulfiqar Ali Shah. After a formal welcome note to the participants, he briefed regading the background of and philosophy of provincial autonomy. He shared that Sindh was rich civilized as compared to other provinces. It was economically and socially sound state befor the partition of subcontinent. Sindh assembly was the first to pass a resolution in favor of Pakistan. But now Sindh province is suffering from illiteracy, unemployment, law and order situation, political disorder and many others social and economic problems. Now the question arise that why is this happening with the little provinces like Sindh and Balochistan. MRC have taken the initiatives on this burning issue which is the bone of contention among Pakistani states.
Mr. Ghulam Mustafs Baloch (Regional Head SPO)
He stated that General Parvaiz Musharaf Government declared seven points in 2002 regading provincial autonomy but unfortunately it remained only a slogan and could never be implemented. Sindh Assembly passed the very first resolution in support of Pakistan, Sien GM Syed palyed major role but he had given a lot of punishments, Sadar Akbar Buggti raised voice for Baloch’s control on natural resources of their province bgut he was killed in military operation. There are lots of other people who sacrificed for Pakistan in real meaning but brutally killed by Pakistani army.
Mr. Hassan Raza Bukhari (Coordinator MRC)
MRC has been working on provincial autonomy since February 21, 2006. We have been conducting the programs throughout the country. We have emphasized on provincial autonomy. Before 1954, Bahawalpur state was isolated from Pakistan and it has different identification but Pakistan dominated the people and resources when it merged with Pakistan.
Mr. Asim Akhunad (Philosophy Department University of Sindh Jamshoro)
In the past, so many national movements were put in to action for the sake of national rights like Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia. All national movements struggled for their independence and empowerment. According to Lenin, “Small nations have short space to live as compared to the biggest nations”. Nationalism is free from religion. It has culture, history, language, economics and political structure. It is unbalanced in human history from the very beginning; some nations are powerful and others are powerless. Democracy means equal in all segments of society. But, Pakistan failed in implementation of democracy. The authorities of Pakistan converted themselves into colonial watchman. Pakistan army has been converted into more powerful pillars of state and socio economic condition is changing gradually. Therefore, provincial movements are arising in Pakistan.
Mr. Subehdin Ghori (Jurnalist Karach Press Club)
Province make a country, country does not provinces. If Pakistan does not justify with the rights of its provinces, it will be broken like Bangladesh. So, it is necessary to equalize the distribution of right among all provinces. Sindh is the biggest industrial zone. It has 62% contribution in revenue but it has given only 26% in the form of National Finance Certificate (NFC) award. Now a days Pakistan is facing the problems of uniform and it created so many other difficulties in the way of democracy and prosperity of Pakistan. There are many loopholes in the politics of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and army has no political role according to the constitution.
Ms. Amar Sindhu (Philosopher and Writer)
If national assembly will sustain then resolution about provincial assembly will submit and it is duty of every national organizations of sindh that they should highlight the issues and problems of Sindh. Provincial autonomyis the problem of every person living in effected province. If the constitution of 1973 would have been practiced in real sense then such issues could never be grown up. Practicing of the constitution is the only tool to solve this problem of provincial autonomy that province has full right on the local recourses.
Second Session (Political Session)
Mr. Gul Mohammad Jakhari (General Secretary Sindh National Front)
He addressed the participants and said that that Sindh National Front has major objection on provincial autonomy. He said our leader Mumtaz Bhutto always raised the question of confederation and we do not agree with the central policies of the federation which is the violation of the constitution and provincial rights. Sindh National Front is doing advocacy to promote the provincial autonomy. People claimed that Mumtaz Bhutto signed the NFC award against Sindh. Infact, he is the person who always struggled for the rights of Sindh. Sindh National Front condemns every ordinance, every document, and every legislation which is against Sindh province and wants the system of confederation. All rights and decisions should be in control of provincial authorities and not in control of army or unelected person.
Mr. Comrade Jam Saqi (Scholar)
Due to lack of political stability Pakistan failed to implement democracy in the country and nobody can do anything sans the permission of Pakistan Army. National movements struggled for their rights but unfortunately, they could not build a pressure on government. Seraiki Movement in Punjab, Baloch Movement in Balochistan and Sindh Movement in Sindh are working by their own tracks, they do not have the common strategy. Hence, these movements could not build pressure on the government. “We are hopeful that the day will come when we will be authorized on our local resources” he ended.
Mr. Hoat Khan Ghandi (Sindh Tarki Pasand Party STP)
Sindh Tarki Pasand Party (STP) has the motto that all resources should be under control of the people who are living in Sindh since hundred years. The issue of provincial autonomy did not hoist few time ago but it began with the creation of Pakistan when migrants came here for refuge. A large number of refugees settled in Karachi the major city of Sindh. Now all the resources are under control of non-Sindhis, even policy making institutions are not in control of Sindhis. We have been struggling for water issue, island issue and NFC award issue throughout Sindh and we strongly condemn the incident of violations of human rights on May 12, 2007. “The government and the supreme court of Pakistan should investigate the master minds behind this episode”, he demanded.
Mr. Punhal Sariyo (Social and Political Activist)
National movements had brought changes in socio-economic and political conditions of many other countries. Provincial autonomy is the burning issue of Sindh and the grass root cause of other issues in the province. If the issue of provincial autonomy would be addressed properly by the government nobody could say that Sindh is a marginalized and deprived province. But unfortunately, all the resources are captured by the federal government. Unemployment ratio is increasing day-by-day, poverty ratio is crossing its limits and water logging is the biggest issue of agriculture.
Mr. Hussain Bukhsh Thebo (Scholar and Political Activist)
In the paper of the constitution 1973, cultural, political and economical rights are given to the provinces but federal government could not provide mentioned rights as per to the ordinance. Provincial autonomy is the only solution for improvement and betterment of social and economical condition of Sindh.
Mr. Afzal Gujar (Pakistan Muslim League-N)
PLM-N has always taken the initiative for provincial autonomy. Oure condition cannot change until Presidents General Parvaiz Musharaf is ruling the country. Because, Pakistan is a democratic country and it cannot run under army control. So, it’s necessary to put up pressure against army and General Parvaiz Musharaf on international forum.
Mr. Ayaz Latif Palijo Advocate (Awami Tehreek)
It is very clear the Sindh has no power to do something for the betterment of Sindhis who are captured by the refugees came from other province and dominated on its resources. The political class could not resolve the issues of Sindh. The internal conflicts of the political parties are also the reason behind this situation. Even Sindhi Chief Minister could not do anything for Sindhi people. Middle class community is less interested in politics and poor people are deprived through devolution of power plan. Our political, cultural and economical rights have been violated but we cannot protest. So, there is need for collective action. We should forgive and forget the mistakes of each other otherwise will be destroyed and history will remember us.
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