HEC to set up universities, sub-campuses in every district headquarter

Islamabad: To improve equitable access to higher education across the country, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) intends to establish new universities and sub-campuses in almost every district headquarter of the country in consultation and collaboration with the respective provincial governments during next three years.
As per latest comprehensive study undertaken by HEC, more than 171 Degree Awarding Institutes and 88 sub-campuses (not all recognized by HEC) are imparting higher education in the public and private sectors.
The present district wise coverage (districts having either a university or sub campus) in different regions is; Balochistan 16 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 72 per cent, Punjab 75 per cent and Sindh 57 per cent. The concentration of private institutions is in major cities. More than 28 private higher education institutions are operative in Karachi and 20 are in Lahore whereas Islamabad has the highest number of public sector universities, i.e. 14.
HEC has outlined a roadmap for phase wise establishment of new universities, sub-campuses of existing universities and up gradation of sub-campuses to degree awarding institutions. Accordingly, 36 new sub campuses of existing universities will be established in the districts having no university or sub campus at the moment. Similarly 9 existing sub campuses will be upgraded to full-fledged universities and 4 new universities will be established in next 3 years.
In this regard, HEC will provide funding for the infrastructure and faculty development and other allied facilities whereas respective provincial governments shall be required to extend necessary support in terms of providing building to start academic activities and thereafter free of cost land for establishing university and sub-campus. In the current development budget, federal government has allocated Rs 5000 million for the establishment of sub campuses.
HEC spokesperson Aayesha Ikram told that HEC intends to increase the access to higher education which at the moment is very low compared to regional countries. She told that HEC is also working with the old universities to consolidate their expansion programs so that they may concentrate on research and community outreach to solve the local issues. She believed that Universities must have a role in developing local communities and economies and the impact of the existence of a university in an area should be visible from the local development and provision of solution to the local issues.
Aayesha further added that quality of the education will not be compromised with the expansion and HEC is planning to train 3,000 faculty members to accommodate the need of faculty in the newly established universities.