Effective implementation of 18th Amendment in education, health stressed

Federal, provincial HECs urged to respect autonomy of universities, academic freedom

Islamabad

Effective implementation of 18th Constitutional Amendment in education and health sectors and autonomy of universities was urged by the participants of a roundtable dialogue on ‘6 Years of 18th Constitutional Amendment: Equity and Autonomy of Universities’ held here on Monday.

Organised by the Pakistan Social Services Partnership, a coalition of 85 civil society organisations, the event was presided over by former Election Commission of Pakistan secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad.

The unanimous resolution accepted on the occasion demanded establishment of a monitoring and advocacy committee comprising stakeholders and representatives from all provinces.

­The resolution also recommended organising similar dialogues in all provinces and formulating and advocating a position paper addressing the subject issue in an articulated way based on wider consultative process.

It said that the autonomy of universities and academic freedom at campuses must be respected by federal and provincial higher education commissions (HECs), as per true spirit of 18th Constitutional Amendment and a new commission on education standards be formed by federal government as per mandated by the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which should repeal the existing one.

It further demanded that the next NFC Award must be finalised and announced immediately so that every province has adequate resources for education and health; the ban on student must be lifted immediately.

PSSP Chairperson Kanwar Muhammad Javed Iqbal, Executive Director, Centre for Inclusive Governance Gulbaz Ali Khan, Executive Director, Centre for Civic Education Pakistan Zafarullah Khan, President, Islamabad High Court Bar Association Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, senior journalist, Muhammad Afzal Butt, Quaid-e-Azam University Academic Staff Association President Dr. Asif Ali, and International Islamic University Academic Staff Association President Dr. Zafar Iqbal also spoke on the occasion.

Executive Director Centre for Civic Education Pakistan, Zafarullah Khan in his keynote address said that historic 18th Constitutional Amendment was unanimously passed by the parliament which introduced changes to about 36 per cent of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan: 102 out of 280 articles of the Constitution were amended.

After the abolition of concurrent list, education and health have become provincial matters. “But in spite of lapse of 6 years, the implementation of this important constitutional amendment is still pending.” He said that universities are autonomous bodies and their autonomy should be respected.

Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad emphasized over the resolution of all the issues in education sector as per the constitution. Former President Federal Union of Journalists, Muhammad Afzal Butt lamented over ban on students unions.

The participants were of the view that in spite of lapse of six years, HEC Ordinance 2002 could not be amended and substituted by ‘Commission for   Standard in Institutions of Higher Education and research, scientific and Technical Institutions’ as per Entry No. 12 of the Federal Legislative List-(Part-II).