Fata varsity’s campus to be set up in each agency, says HEC

Chairman briefs Fata parliamentarians on commission’s initiatives for tribal region

A group of parliamentarians from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) visited the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Secretariat on Monday to discuss the initiatives the commission had taken for the promotion of higher education in the country’s tribal region.

HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed briefed them about the commission’s core activities, particularly the initiatives taken for the region.

The meeting was attended by Muhammad Nazir Khan, parliamentary secretary, ministry of federal education and professional training, Muhammad Jamalud Din, Alhaj Shah Jee Gul Afridi, Nasir Khan, Sajid Hussain Turi, Ghalib Khan and Syed Ghazi Ghulab Jamal. HEC Executive Director Dr Arshad Ali, member for operations and planning Dr Ghulam Raza Bhatti and other senior management of the commission also attended.

Briefing the parliamentarians on the commission’s aims in general and initiatives for the promotion of higher education in Fata in particular, the HEC chairman said his department was committed to ensuring development in Fata through increased access of tribal students to higher education.

He said that so far 6,633 students from the region had benefited from the Prime Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Programme for MPhil and PhD studies, and 2,750 students had been awarded scholarships under the HEC programme for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Ahmed informed the guests that over 3,000 Fata students had also been provided with scholarships under the HEC Merit and Need-based Scholarship Programme, and a number of scholars had also availed themselves of foreign scholarships for PhD studies and the Cuban government’s scholarships for medical studies.

He added that so far 1,800 Fata students had been provided with laptops under the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme. “The HEC believes in a holistic approach towards development and ensures that quality is not compromised at any level.”

Addressing concerns of parliamentarians over the location of a university planned for Fata, the HEC chairman mentioned that the location for the establishment of the university had been controversial for years, but the commission had proposed that a campus be set up in each trial agency after the establishment of the university.

“Our proposal was admired and now we have the Fata University on the ground,” he said. 

Describing the HEC’s endeavours for the promotion of higher education in the country, Ahmed said the commission had made remarkable progress in increasing access, ensuring equity, improving quality and focusing on the relevance of education and research in the country. 

Before the inception of the HEC in 2002, the number of higher education institutions was only 59, but now the number of universities had reached 180, and a number of journal publications had reached 10,000, which was around 800 in 2002, he added.