A Special Task Force constituted by Higher Education Commission (HEC) would visit Balochistan after Eid holidays.
The Task Force has been established on the proposal of Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch who met with HEC Chairperson Dr Javaid Laghari a few days earlier.
During the meeting, the Javaid Laghari agreed to establish a Special Task Force to evaluate and promote higher education in Balochistan to help it keep pace with national standards. He also assured cooperation in addressing human resource related problems in the province.
The task force would be headed by Javaid Laghari and will comprise of eminent and experienced academicians and administrators including University of Gujrat Vice Chancellor Professor Muhammad Nizamuddin, and National Committee on Development of Social Sciences chairperson and Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences comprising of 16 leading universities of Pakistan, Agriculture University Faisalabad former Vice Chancellor and HEC Advisor Quality Assurance & Human Resource Development Professor Riaz Hussain Qureshi, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan Vice Chancellor Professor Mansoor Akbar Kundi who also has vast experience of working in higher education sector of Balochistan.
The members of the Task Force will meet the vice chancellors, university administrators, faculty students and other stakeholders before making recommendations to the Balochistan chief minister.
The Task Force will also delineate primary challenges the universities in Balochistan are currently facing, impeding their development as high standard institutions of learning and research and recommend, steps and reforms required to improve their performance and progress as world class institutions of higher learning.
While assessing the universities, the Task Force will focus on the areas including governance and management of universities; autonomy from all kinds of extraneous influences in academic, administrative and financial functions, faculty development, trainings and research functions, institutional performance, adequacy of resources (public and self-generated; including university effectiveness to mobilize resources), efficiency and effectiveness of resource use, adoption and adherence to quality standards and practices, development and quality of faculty, retention vis-à-vis vacancy, law and order issues arising there from necessitating immediate response and solution and role of universities in improving quality of instructions and research in affiliated institutions.
The HEC has paid special attention towards increasing access to higher education in remote and far flung areas of the country. In recent years, out of total 55 new university campuses, 31 have been established in rural areas throughout Pakistan.
The main HEC initiatives for promotion of equitable access to higher education In Balochistan include approval of 49 development projects amounting to more than Rs 10 billion, application of federal quota policy over indigenous and foreign scholarship programs, allocation of 390 PhD scholarships for university faulty, award of 2,000 scholarships to students of Balochistan and FATA, announcement of 1,500 more scholarships and 600 foreign PhD scholarships, implementing Fee Waiver Scheme for the public sector university students of Balochistan at Masters and MS level in Balochistan and PhD students throughout the country, launched special projects for the development of basic infrastructure at higher education institutions of the province including labs, class rooms, seminars rooms, transport facilities, digital libraries, video conferencing facilityand establishment of HEC Regional Centre in Quetta.
As result of these reforms, number of universities has been increased from 2 to 8, student enrollment increased from 30,000 to more than 76,000 and an increase has been witnessed in international publications from 6 in 2002 to 338 in 2011.
