New HEC chairperson takes charge

Islamabad : Newly appointed Chairperson for Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Tariq Banuri believes in going beyond numbers towards quality of higher education with constantly safeguarding the rights of academia.

He expressed these views at the time of taking the charge of HEC on Thursday. At the Commission, the newly appointed Chairperson was welcomed by Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director, HEC, senior management and employees of HEC.

Dr. Tariq Banuri, a PhD from Harvard University has joined HEC as its fourth chairperson. He has an extensive experience of working in academia, civil society and national as well as international organisations.

Dr. Banuri was member of Steering Committee on Higher Education Reforms, the body that played a vital role in inception of HEC in 2002. He has also worked as Professor of Economics at University of Utah, USA.

The new Chairperson holds PhD degree in Economics. He did his Bachelors in Civil Engineering from University of Peshawar and Masters in Development Economics from Williams College. He started his career through Civil Services of Pakistan, however after five years he left to pursue PhD in Harvard University and joined the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), United Nations as a research fellow.

Dr. Banuri has also served as founding Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan. He has also remained member of the Board of Governors, State Bank of Pakistan and worked as Coordinating Lead Author on the Nobel Prize winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Also, he has been providing free consultative services to Pakistan government in the area of climate change and to Mehran University in the area of water.

In his maiden address to HEC employees, Dr. Tariq Banuri extended his gratitude to Prime Minister and the selection committee for reposing their confidence in him for the esteemed position of HEC head. “The first challenge lying ahead of me is to live up to this confidence and trust,” he stated.

He stressed the need for identifying the key issues facing the sector, setting targets for the next four years, and brainstorming on how the HEC procedural deficiencies can be addressed. “HEC has to play a supportive role for higher education institutions, faculty and students at large, as it is a service organisation meant for facilitating all the stakeholders,” he underlined.