From: Khalid Hashmani <khas...@hotmail.com>
Subject: [WorldSindhinet] Over-centralized HEC must be Abolished
To: "World Sindhinet" <worldsi...@yahoogroups.com>, "World Sindhi Congress Network" <wsc-n...@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 6:39 AM
Piyara Dosto, I have contacted the USAid office to seek clarifications on the statement quoted in the news item in Kawish newspaper referenced below about the threat by the USAid that the US will withhold $ 250 millions in grants if the current federal HEC is devolved. I doubt that a USAid official would issue such a statement as in the US itself the responsibility for higher education solely rests with the states (provinces). I will share the response that I get from the USAid officials. I intend to follow-up with a written briefing to the senior leaders of USAid and the US Government asking them to support devolution in Pakistan and help in dismantling of the over-centralization in Pakistan. Some one also
forwarded me an e-mail that appear to be genuine from Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi (Executive Director of HEC) that states the position of the current HEC. The report clearly shows its anti-provinces bias and should be considered an unfair and uncalled for interference to halt the implementation of the 18th Amendment. The irony is that this email states that HEC supports 18th Amendment and hence devolution of HEC and then goes on to sell its view of over-centralization. My views on the major points made in the Executive Director's e-mail are as follows:
1. The email says that the Government proposal calls for dissolution of HEC and to create a new Commission for Standards of Higher Education Under the Cabinet Division. This new
Commission would do all the tasks being done by the HEC's Quality Assurance departments currently. (The government should ensure the equity in the provincial representation in the new Commission).
2. The report says that the government proposal calls for the distribution of all tasks with respect to research, IT and foreign scholarships, to various divisions of the Federal Government since these tasks are Federal in the Constitution (I strongly disagree with this notion - The responsibility of this area, particularly for the "Foreign Scholarships" should be with the universities or provincial governments).
3. My recommendation is that the responsibility for the development projects that are being managed by the current HEC be transferred to universities on the basis
of the provincial population basis to universities in each province.
4. I disagree with the statement by the HEC Executive Director 80% of the current HEC programs are legally federal. The founding principle of Pakistan (1940 resolution) and clear intend of the current constitution was that the all levels of education must fall under the provincial jurisdictions and the role of federal government is simply standards setting and quality assurance.
5. As the report says the bulk of funding of the federal HEC is to provide grants to the universities (91.2%) and research (7.9%) in Pakistan, it tends to distribute these funds disproportionally and deny equity on the basis of the the resources contributed by Balochistan and Sindh. In my view all federal
universities should be abolished and reverted to the provinces where they are located and let those provinces pay for their upkeep. It is unfair for other provinces to pay for universities in other provinces simply because they declared to be "federal".
6. HEC has consumed a massive funding of Rs. 100 Billion in development funding in the last nine (9) years. Much of it has gone to selected provinces in disproportion share of resources contributed by those provinces denying equal opportunities to the young and old researchers, engineers, and scientists of Sindh and Balochistan.
Thanks,
Khalid Hashmani
Sindhi Excellence Team
McLean, Virginia, USA
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Rizwan Ahmed Khan <rk...@hec.gov.pk>Date: Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Subject: HEC & the 18th Amendment
To:
With profound regards,
Rizwan Ahmed Khan | Project Manager – IPFP
(Human Resource Development Division)
Higher Education Commission | Sector H-8 | Islamabad - Pakistan
Dial: +92(51)9080 8053 | Cell: +92(345)528 3313
URL: http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/HRD/FacultyHiringPrograms/IPFPHD
DISCLAIMER: This email including any attachment(s) may contain confidential & privileged information which is solely for the use of intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s) please contact the sender through reply mail & destroy all copies of original message as your moral responsibility. Please note that the views presented in this email are solely those of the author & may not necessarily represent those of the Commission. The recipient must check this email & any attachment(s) for the presence of viruses. The Commission accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted through this email.
From: Dr. S. Sohail Naqvi
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2011 7:45 PM
To: VC-Private; VC-Public
Subject: HEC and devolution
My Dear Vice Chancellor/Rector/Director
There appears to be a perception in certain circles that HEC is against devolution of powers to the provinces or that it opposes the 18th Amendment. The truth is far from that. The 18th Amendment is an integral part of the Constitution of Pakistan and the HEC fully endorses and supports it.
The reported proposal of the Government of Pakistan (not officially conveyed) but reported by senior Govt. functionaries and also stated on TV by some ministers is
1. To dissolve HEC and create a new Commission for Standards of Higher Education Under the Cabinet Division. This new Commission would do all the tasks being done by the HEC QA and QAA Division currently
2. Distribute all tasks w.r.t. research, IT, foreign scholarships, to various divisions of the Federal Government since these tasks are Federal in the Constitution
3. Distribute all development projects of universities to the respective provinces. No clarity exists as to what would happen to the Federal university projects. Presumably
these would be executed by the new Division for ICT to be formed under the Interior Ministry. This division would also look after the Federal Universities.
4. No plan on how to handle development projects directly being handled by the HEC
5. Close down all other programs
Enormous confusion exists at the moment as to what is to be done since no person in the Government of Pakistan has officially spoken to any HEC Officer about any plan of what is to happen in the future.
The reality is that 80% or more of the programs actually being executed by the HEC are legally Federal, i.e. they are defined in the Federal List Part I or II of the Constitution of Pakistan. (See attachment)
As you are all aware Quality Assurance is Central to Higher Education. This is the reason why, “Standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions.” Was put as a Federal Subject in List II of the Constitution. Without quality, a Pakistani degree would become worthless. The HEC already has a well-established and well-tested system of quality assurance, degree recognition, recognition of new institutions, attestation etc. The HEC is internationally renowned and accepted by the world, hence degrees of Pakistani universities are also accepted.
If the HEC is dissolved and a new Commission is created without autonomy, working under a Government Ministry, it will never be able to have the credibility that HEC enjoys; which will jeopardize the value of degrees issued by all institutions of Pakistan. Besides that, the question does come to mind as to what devolution has to do with moving degree recognition authority to the Cabinet Division. It certainly does not happen anywhere else in the world, and this move will certainly diminish the credibility of degrees of all Pakistani Institutions.
A core issue appears to be that of funding, in which case the fact of the matter is
1. HEC receives recurring grant in bulk from the Govt. for
a. Grants for universities (91.2%)
b. Promotion of Research programs that fund all research, internet, digital library programs etc. (7.5%)
c. HEC Secretariat (1.3%) of funds
2. The function of HEC is to distribute the funds for universities (i.e. the 91.2%) on need and performance which is done through the recurring grant formula.
a. Following devolution, if desired by the Provincial Universities, fund distribution can be done by a Provincial body designated and having the capacity for this purpose.
b. Federal Universities would continue to be funded by HEC.
c. Research is a Federal Subject so all research and IT (required for research) activities will continue as before by the HEC
3. For Development Funding, HEC receives funds in bulk from the Planning Commission through the PSDP.
a. In case of universities in Provinces, funds in bulk (As per NFC Award) can be transferred to a body designated in Provinces for this purpose. This body would be responsible for fund distribution in universities and for monitoring of projects and would be responsible for Audit.
b. Alternatively, funds can be transferred directly by the Provinces to this Provincial body for distribution to the universities.
c. It is important to determine the source of funding of Provincial University Development Projects.
d. Federal Universities would continue to receive funds from HEC as before
e. HEC Development projects would have to continue as is, since they fund
i. Research and PhD scholarships for Research
ii. Foreign Scholarships which is a Federal Subject under List I
iii. All other existing development grants managed by HEC and dealing with any subject that has been devolved may
be devolved through some orderly transition mechanism.
There is no legal compunction to dissolve HEC under the 18th Amendment. Detailed legal rationale is given in the attached position paper.
So how do we move forward ?
The body of all Public and Private Sector Universities together represent the highest intellectual forum in the country. They have access to the finest minds in the country in all domains of knowledge. The people of Pakistan over the past 9 years have made an investment of nearly Rs. 100 Billion in development funding and about the same amount in Recurring Funding in the universities. The dissolution of HEC will definitely impact this investment. This issue is of great concern to the Vice Chancellors.
The HEC is the successor organization to the University Grants Commission, an organization formed by Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. When HEC was formed, the Vice Chancellors played a key role, and now if there is a proposal to dissolve it, then the Vice Chancellors must be fully on board. We must realize that dissolution of HEC is NOT an issue about devolution or the Capability of Provinces, of which there is no question, it has simply been proposed following the analogy of the Ministry of Education while the HEC is legally, constitutionally and functionally a very different case.
The issues are that
1) Most of the work done by the HEC is Federal under the Constitution
2) Certainly the functions of the HEC can continue in their entirety for universities in the Federal Capital Territory.
3) The HEC has built capacity to carry out its functions and has focused on helping universities build capacity to be world-class institutions.
4) The WB funded Tertiary Education Support Program would have assured Funding of Universities for 3 years. To make it function an execution body, i.e. the HEC is required. IF the HEC tasks are distributed to different Ministries, clearly it will not be possible to achieve any targets.
5) The HEC has massive support across faculty and students and has genuinely revolutionized higher education in Pakistan.
So in these circumstance, why can we not implement the 18th Amendment, have devolution of those functions performed by the HEC that are not Federal in nature in a phased manner over three years in which requisite Provincial Capacity is built, and keep the HEC intact as a key Government Institution and have WB and USAID funding to implement Pakistan’s development agenda outlined in the Medium Term Development Framework 2011-15?
HEC provides a national voice and recognition to the higher education sector; a sector whose success determines the future of Pakistan as a prosperous, just and industrialized nation.
Regards
Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi
Executive Director
Higher Education Commission
Islamabad, H9
Pakistan
Tel: +92 51 9040 0150
Fax: +92 51 9040 0154
www.hec.gov.pk
To: sana...@yahoogroups.com
From: saghir...@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2011 10:59:32 -0700
Subject: [sanalist] HEC News
http://www.thekawish.com/home_page/main_news7.html
We should perhaps talk to USAID and say direct and equitable loans and awards to provinces is the best thing to do. In federal structures, Sindh and Balochistan (especially rural areas) inevitably loose!!
peace
Saghir Shaikh
San Diego, CA
Cell: 818-917-6910
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