Federal govt intends to abolish HEC’s autonomous status

KARACHI: Social activists, academics and human rights defenders have said the federal government intends to systemically abolish the autonomous status of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan by promulgating a presidential ordinance making the commission a subordinate agency of the federal education ministry.

The government on March 26 had issued the Higher Education Amendment Ordinance, according to which, the four-year tenure of the commission’s chairman has been reduced to two years. Later, the government issued a notification through which the present HEC chairman was removed from his position. Afterwards, however, the government felt that there is a legal lacuna in both the ordinance and the notification. Therefore, another notification was issued on April 5, and three days later on April 8 a new Higher Education Amendment Ordinance was issued.

Academics and activists said at the press conference that the federal government had taken those measures because it wanted to malign the HEC chairman. But in fact, they said, the government had put the future and rights of millions of students at stake. In 2002, the commission was established as the autonomous institute that aimed to uplift the quality of higher education in the country. Nonetheless, the present government had weakened the HEC and made its reputation controversial, they added.

The speakers were of the view that presidential ordinances had paralysed the legislative capacity of parliament. They asked the government to discuss any required legislation in the parliament instead of enforcing presidential ordinances, as “this behavior is undemocratic”. They said the government wanted to induct some blue-eyed people into the HEC, but such measures would further weaken higher education in the country. They demanded from the government to withdraw the presidential ordinance and restore the HEC.