The Vice Chancellors’ Committee at the conclusion of its 13th two-day meeting on Thursday urged the government to notify the already agreed Prime Minister`s Task Force comprising of relevant stakeholder at its earliest to further strengthen higher education sector.
Heads of 146 public and private sector universities attended the annual meeting presided over by Vice Chancellors’ Committee Chairperson Engr Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, following the themes ‘consolidate, cooperate and contribute’.
The committee said that the mandate of the Task Force would include reviewing HEC’s performance and evolving a working mechanism between federal and provincial governments for undertaking collaborative efforts to further strengthen higher education sector. They opined that any change or initiative in higher education should be based upon the recommendations of the Task Force.
The meeting engaged the heads of different public and private universities in deliberations upon the prevailing issues faced by the higher education sector and the way forward for it. They were of the unanimous view that provincial higher education councils should focus on improving quality of colleges while primary and secondary school commission should be established as autonomous bodies in line with HEC in all provinces.
WITHDRAWAL OF TAX REBATE:
The committee members expressed their concern about the withdrawal of tax rebate previously given to teachers and researches. They stated that this will cause brain drain and the efforts and resources invested in higher education will go down the drain. They stated that the 75 percent tax rebate be revived to ensure that researchers and teachers play a productive and efficient role in changing the economic landscape of the country.
The vice chancellors also recommended that private higher education institutions which were being run under trusts on a non-profit basis should be exempted from taxes.
The committee of the vice chancellors appreciated the higher education allocations to the sector and termed it a very positive change in the education sector. They hoped that investments in education continues to rise in this democratically-elected, education-friendly government`s term. The Vice Chancellors were of the view that the higher education sector has been a growth engine for socio economic development of the country and higher education institutions have started to play pivotal role for the well-being of Pakistani people and industrial growth through strong university-industry linkages.
The VCs noted that the universities have shown tremendous progress in the last decade and the HEC reforms were being recognised globally and followed by the other countries. The main factors for the excellent contribution by this organisation were its autonomy and its capable and highly qualified leadership, they said.
STATUS QUO DEMANDED:
Recognizing the excellent performance of HEC as autonomous federal organisation in the last decade and revolution it has brought in the higher education sector, the VCs were of the opinion that HEC status quo should remain and its functions may also protected under the 18th Amendment.
Addressing on the occasion, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairperson Dr Javaid Laghari in his detailed presentation highlighted HEC’ achievements, current budget allocation for higher education sector and provincial harmony. Commenting on the increased budget allocation in the 2013-14 federal budget for higher education sector, he appreciated fulfillment of commitment by the new democratic government as per its manifesto 2013.
