‘Sindh HEC’s rules to be finalised within a week’

Karachi
The rules for regulation of finances, recruitment and accreditation of the Sindh Higher Education Commission will be finalised within a week, said the chief minister Qaim Ali Shah while presiding over the commission’s first meeting on Wednesday.
He directed the officers concerned to go through the proposed rules as soon as possible to they may be discussed and approved in time.
Two minutes of silence were also observed for a late judge Rana Bhagwandas and his services as he chairman of Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) and a member of the HEC.
The notified HEC comprises 14 members, one of whom, late Justice (R) Rana Bhagwandas, recently passed away. The remaining 13 are: Dr Asim Hussain as chairman, Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah, Prof Dr Parveen Shah, Nadira Panjwani, Hunaid Lakhani and Syed Ghulam Nabi Shah as nominated members while the provincial secretaries for education, finance, planning and development, information technology, chairman for Charter Inspection and Evaluation Committee, director-general colleges in Sindh and the secretary of Sindh HEC as ex-officio members.
After thorough deliberations, the meeting recommended to the ministry of inter-provincial coordination, proper implementation on the devolution of education to ensure the smooth transfer of powers and HEC assets to the provinces.
The Sindh HEC also suggested to the federal government to provide grants to universities till the next National Finance Commission Award materialised.
The chief minister said that after the 18th Amendment, the education department had been devolved to the provinces and Sindh had been the first to establish its own Higher Education Commission.
He claimed that during the current fiscal year, the provincial government had spent around Rs5 billion as grants to universities so they could meet their urgent expenses.
He said more than Rs57 million had also been provided to the Sindh HEC management for strengthening its establishment.
He said the interest of Sindh government in promoting higher education could be gauged from the fact that during the past six years, nine public sector universities had been built in the province.
He asked the commission to link universities to industries, chambers of commerce and industries and other professional bodies to ensure that youth were absorbed into the workforce. The CM added that youngsters remain the country’s main hope and they need to be facilitated at all costs.