STAFF REPORT ISB: The convener of the National Assembly Sub-Committee on Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education has asked the top education regulatory body to go beyond its mandated role and help find solutions to issues facing Pakistan. Taking note of this, while seemingly forgetting the quagmire that the commission is already in, the HEC chief promised to “soon” share a proposal on the formation of think-tanks regarding water, energy, agriculture and other issues in the next meeting and how universities could help in this regard.
The meeting examined the allocation of grants and scholarships and suggested that the HEC should not be dissolved following the establishment of provincial level higher education bodies.
HEC Acting Chairperson Imtiaz Gilani commented that they were not opposed to the formation of provincial bodies, but groundwork should be done instead of making rash decisions. “It took us almost a decade to build a higher education body that is now an example for other countries. An abrupt end to it may affect quality of education at university level,” he remarked.