HEC mandate | Universities demand budget increase
The HEC's mandate
Karachi, July 29: As a member of the Higher Education Commission, I wish to express my full
support for the principled stand of the HEC about its being the only mandatory
body responsible for certifying the authenticity of post-secondary (i.e.
university) degrees. I also condemn the unethical tactics being employed to
pressurise the HEC chairman, Dr Javaid Laghari. The HEC must follow the ruling
of the Supreme Court and act speedily. All the relevant records should be
immediately sealed for fear of corruption or destruction of data, and help of
external experts and civil society persons should be sought. To reinforce its
credibility, ensure transparency and avoid conflicting press reports, the HEC
should henceforth consider posting updated details of its work on its website.
This should include the instructions given by the HEC to universities while also
updating the progress of each university on the website. A time-line for the
progress and completion of the work by presenting it to the Election Commission
and the Standing Committee on Education is essential and should also be
displayed on the HEC website. Finally, I view with great concern the
recent reports that both the education and law ministries wish to be involved.
This is uncalled for given the mandate of the HEC. The HEC and universities are
responsible to the community, society and the nation at large in providing
information in a timely manner about the verification of degrees. It is for the
Election Commission to take necessary action against those found
guilty. -By Noorjehan Bilgrami
***Canada: We have an education minister who does not know that the HEC is a body formed under
an ordinance. He does not understand that the HEC is the sole institution whose
charter mandates it to verify degrees. He does not know that the chairman of the
HEC has the status of a minister and is supposed to report directly to the prime
minister. Or perhaps the minister of education understands all that too well. -By Sohail Kirmani
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VCs slam harassment of HEC chief
Lahore: Expressing solidarity with Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr
Javaid R Laghari, vice chancellors of public sector universities of the country
here on Wednesday slammed the elements involved in pressurising him and
harassing his family members over degrees verification process.
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Universities demand budget increase
Islamabad: Making it hard to complete the ongoing projects due to the massive
budget cut, vice chancellors of public sector universities on Wednesday held an
urgent meeting in which they urged the government to restore the budget to its
original level of Rs 28 billion recurring budget and Rs 30 billion development
budget as was agreed by the Ministry of Finance for fiscal year
2010-11. As many as 52 vice chancellors of public sector universities
attended the meeting. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, the VCs
said that under the current circumstances it would not be possible for the
universities to provide the 50 percent ad hoc increase in salaries, 15 percent
increase in medical allowance and 15 percent to 20 percent increase in pension
to its employees. They called on the government to provide a supplementary
recurring grant of Rs7 billion to give salary increase to employees. The VCs
expressed the fear that the massive development made by the universities during
the last five years would collapse if the government did not increase the budget
allocation for the higher education sector. "The budget for the ongoing projects
was approved during the last few years but now when these projects are nearing
completion and only 10 to 15 percent of their work is remaining, the government
is not willing to provide the required amount," said Fatima Jinnah Woman
University (FJWU) VC Syeda Asadullah. Peshawar University Vice Chancellor
Dr Azmat Hayat Khan said that 37 students of the university had been sent abroad
for PhD for which they were paying 1,200 dollars per month for each student but
now they were finding it hard to pay that much amount when their course was
about to end. "What could be worse than not be in a position to pay the increase
in the salaries and benefits to employees? Peshawar University alone has to pay
Rs 250 million extra in this way," he said. On the occasion, Higher
Education Commission (HEC) Executive Director (ED) Dr Sohail Naqvi said that
they had taken the budget consolidation from all universities before handing
over the HEC budget to the Ministry of Finance but even then the budget had been
decreased instead of being increased. "We had been meeting with Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani who also assured us that the budget allocation for the HEC
would be increased but it never happened. On the other hand, the budget has been
cut down," he said. Punjab University Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran
also criticised the cut in budget and simultaneous increase in the salaries at
that moment. He said that there were 6,200 employees of the Punjab University
while 1,960 were taking monthly pension. "The Punjab University is facing a
deficit of Rs500 million due to the increase in the salaries alone," he said. The news
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