LAHORE: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri said that HEC was ready to work with the provincial HECs if they implement the standards set by them. While talking to a select group of journalists, HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri said, “If we have confidence that provincial commissions can implement these standards, then we can delegate powers to them and if we have doubts that these standards are not implemented properly, then we will keep on foreseeing and send our committee to look on it,” he said. He called for ending political interference in the provincial HEC and said that they should be given autonomy so that they can perform their functions independently. Dr Tariq Banuri said that after the 18th Amendment, PHECs were established and they should play their role to save the education system. The only justification to establish PHECs is that they work in a new and protected way which means that its staff feels protected and they defend education sector and there should be no interference. “If you work in this way, then province and federation are on the same page and they work in the same direction. If HEC and PHECs are used for political management then there is no need of establishing such bodies. The only reason to establish these institutions is to protect the autonomy of the education sector,” he said adding that if PHECs are autonomous in real sense then they will bear the pressure and sustain. He also said that if the provincial commissions are free from political pressure then HEC thinks they have the ability to sustain pressure. “If we think that they don’t sustain the pressure then we will stand in the way because this is also the way of protection,” he said Dr Banuri said that a lot of work is to be done. If somebody volunteers to help, I will gladly delegate him, provided he does it well. “It’s an evolutionary process. I say that we start the work on trust. If there are problems in this arrangement then try to remove the problems so that we can move in the right direction,” he said. Answering a question regarding change in plagiarism policy of the commission, the chairman said that he has not given any orders in this regard. He said that he is not hesitant to take action against HEC executive director on the charges of plagiarism. He also said that he has put his case before the commission members and he wants that commission members should give decision on his case. He said that he is also thinking to establish judicial commission and such kind of cases will be presented before the commission. Dr Banuri said that he is in favour of giving full autonomy to universities. He said that there should be no political or bureaucratic interference in the internal matters of the universities. He said that vice chancellors of the universities always complain about financial constraints. He also said that universities faced such kind of constraints due to over staffing. “Both quality and autonomy are goals. There is a need to achieve that goal together. If we convince the government that we deliver quality and give them good value for the money, then the government will be willing to give us autonomy. If we cannot convince them, they will keep on interfering because they have a political mandate and they have to deliver certain things,” he said. He termed universities autonomy as a kind of social contract. “If you work in the right direction, people will appreciate you and if you don’t work in the right direction, people will criticise you. We have to ask why the quality is not delivered. We have to convince the government that universities will work properly after autonomy and if we convince the government, we will be able to reduce the interference,” he said, adding that the commission will take steps to strengthen the internal audit system of universities. He said that there should be no political interference in the appointments of vice chancellors. He informed that HEC has closed the programmes of those universities whose standards were not up to the mark. Published in Daily Times, August 1st 2018.