Daily Times

LAHORE: The controversy between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Punjab Higher Education (PHEC) took a new plight as Punjab Higher Education minister claimed that PHEC has been acknowledged and provincial autonomy has been restrained, however on the other side, Council of Common Interest (CCI) had not yet decided on the matter.

While talking to media persons in his farewell meeting with media officials, Syed Raza Ali Gillani was of the opinion that Punjab put all the matters regarding powers of higher education which should be given to PHEC after 18th amendment and sent it HEC.

After discussion, we reached at a result that three categories of work were approved and responsibilities of HECs were divided among federal and provincial counterparts.

This include the responsibilities of HEC, responsibilities of provincial higher education and third is responsibilities shared by both HECs, he said adding that by approval of this act, provincial autonomy has been reserved and PHEC has been acknowledged by national institutions.

It is pertinent to mention that a tug of war had been observed between federal HEC and PHEC which is another provincial autonomous body since Punjab government established PHEC in 2014. The controversy also remained at its peak specially on the matter of closure of illegal campuses of public and private varsities. At various occasions, federal HEC closed down the campuses for not meeting the criteria but PHEC managed to allow them working despite they were not meeting HEC criteria.

Similarly, PHEC Chairman Dr Nizam did not pay any official visit to HEC office in four years and interestingly he paid a visit immediately after the former HEC chairman Dr Mukhtar’s four year tenure was completed on April 14. However, HEC Executive Director Dr Arshad Ali also paid a visit to PHEC and both announced jointly working on various matters which were even not approved by CCI.

As per details, after 18th Constitutional Amendment, education was dissolved to provinces however, HEC was not dissolved to provinces due its standards and maintained quality. But Punjab and Sindh announced establishing their own HEC namely Sindh HEC and Punjab HEC. After establishment of these HECs, a new debate and tug was generated among federal institution and provincial institutions. The matter was later brought to court which authorised CCI to decide the fate of federal and provincial HECs.

In a recent development, the latest meeting of CCI discussed the authority of both federal and provincial HECs and the matter is not approved since it will be notified by cabinet division but still PHEC and Punjab Higher Education Minister Raza Gillani claimed the act as success of provincial autonomy.

Published in Daily Times, May 25^th 2018.