The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan’s (HEC) two events scheduled for July 24 and 25 in Islamabad — Vice Chancellors Forum and Pakistan’s Digital Leap — were marred by poor attendance and last-minute changes despite massive public spending.
The Vice Chancellors’ Forum was convened on July 24 at the HEC Auditorium. However, only about 50 vice chancellors (VCs) out of the 271 invited heads of public and private universities across the country attended the event, exposing the lack of interest and coordination at the national higher education level.
To deal with the empty auditorium, an internal email was sent on July 24 morning requesting all HEC officers from BPS-19 and above to occupy the vacant seats. Even this measure failed to sustain engagement as most of the VCs left the event immediately after lunch, leading to further decline in attendance in the second half of the day.
A similar situation was witnessed on Friday, July 25, during the Pakistan’s Digital Leap event hosted at the Jinnah Convention Centre by the HEC where no federal minister or senior government official showed up despite being formally invited.
The HEC reportedly urged VCs from Islamabad and Rawalpindi to ensure students’ participation despite university holidays in order to fill the seats.
The programme, which had been scheduled for a full day, began late, after 11AM and concluded 45 minutes earlier than planned. Only two speeches were delivered by the chairperson of the federal HEC and the chairperson of the Punjab HEC. The much-anticipated laptop distribution ceremony, mentioned in the official invitations, was quietly dropped without explanation.
A senior HEC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that over 80 hotel rooms were booked in a high-end hotel in Islamabad, with each room costing over Rs60,000, excluding meals and rental charges for the Jinnah Convention Centre.
These high-profile events were held just four days before the extended tenure of current HEC Chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmed ends on July 29, 2025. The federal government has already initiated the process for the appointment of a new chairperson.
Meanwhile, sources in the HEC stated that the appointment process for the new executive director of the HEC has been halted following the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training. The scrutiny of the 74 received applications could not be completed as the advertisement issued for the post failed to specify the required number of years’ experience raising procedural concerns and prompting the ministry’s involvement.
The News called and messaged the HEC spokesperson for his comments on the two events and the executive director’s appointment, but he did not respond.