Pakistan Today

Devolution of the HEC-I

The beneficiaries of the Higher Education Commission, loyalists of the military dictator and supporters of One Unit have all ganged up against the 18th amendment on the pretext of devolution of HEC, and have raised such a rumpus that obscures the real issue. Here are some facts about the organisation for your readers to judge.

Fact No. 1: The HEC came into existence as a supreme regulatory authority, in 2002 on the very eve of the first meeting of the newly elected parliament, through a decree promulgated by the despotic military dictator. The ordinance had never been debated in the elected parliament. The HEC by its very constitution is thus autocratic. It does not advise, it dictates. It does not suggest, it orders. During the past eight and half years the HEC has managed to usurp academic freedom and university autonomy. Consequently, the acts through which the public sector universities were established have become redundant. HEC now controls every aspect of university affairs from admissions, curriculum and appointments.

Fact No. 2. The HEC has made a mockery of research by supporting irrationality, abnormality and absurdity in the academic environment. Some of the absurdities are

i) A physics professor publishing 80 research paper during a SINGLE calendar year.

ii) A university professor producing 30 Ph.D.s in two years.

iii) A research scientist concurrently supervising 76 Ph.D. scholars

A German Physicist and Noble laureate Prof. Wolfgang Pauli took exception to this trend of a rat-race for PhDs and once aptly remarked, I do not mind dear doctor if you think slowly, but I do mind if you publish faster than you think

Fact No. 3: The HEC is guilty of promoting commercialism in higher education by granting recognition to a number of ill-reputed institutions shearing exorbitant profits off hapless customers. The saner elements of academia, people like Noam Chomsky, have appropriately decried the very notion of higher education being a commodity; tradable like banana, potato chips, pulses or fancy cars.

Fact No. 4: HEC has very conveniently turned its blind eye on nagging issues that have dogged higher education in the country for many decades, these include rampant cheating in examinations, political interference of students in administrative and academic affairs, hooliganism on campuses, lack of transparency in appointments of officials and faculty, vice chancellors frequently using their discretionary powers in violation to university codes, award of fake or dubious PhD degrees and many other administrative malpractices.

The solution of the above problems does not require a lot of funds, it only requires a political will and apolitical vice chancellors with sufficient guts to stand up and say no! to external pressures. In my opinion pumping money into education without addressing these problems is throwing it down a bottomless pit.

In the end, I appreciate Senator Raza Rabbani for his principled stance on provincial autonomy. Universities cannot produce desired results of quality education without academic freedom and institutional autonomy; which should be restored immediately. Meanwhile, the Implementation Commission for 18th Amendment must engage the real stakeholders i.e. the professorate, and come up with a workable plan to make higher education a truly truth seeking enterprise.

DR ABDUL QADEER

Karachi

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