In the past few weeks, two important developments took place in the higher education sector in Punjab. These developments show that Punjab is not only taking lead in school and college education but also in tertiary education that has been devolved to the provinces after the passage of the 18^th Amendment. The provincial governments in the remaining provinces -- especially in KP and Balochistan -- have been lagging not because of the federal HEC’s interference in their affairs but simply because they are following a policy of wait and see.

The verdict announced by a division bench in the Punjab HEC Versus Dr Aurangzeb Alamgir, etc. Case commonly dubbed by the media as Vice-Chancellor Appointment Case at Lahore High Court has declared that the provincial legislature has the authority to set standards i.e. procedures and criteria for selection of VCs, if they are not below the minimum and baseline standards set by the federation. The bench comprising Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Shujaat Ali Khan was responding to the intra-court appeals by the Punjab government and others that had challenged a single bench decision announced earlier.

Since the passage of the 18^th Constitutional Amendment, the higher education sector in the country has witnessed a tug-of-war between the supporters of devolution and the flagbearers of a strong centre. It is not only the federal government and the HEC in Islamabad but also certain elements in the judiciary and academia that are opposing devolution. Prior to the 18^th Amendment, the concurrent list included centres of excellence, curriculum, planning, policy, and syllabus. These are now fully devolved to the provinces as the Entry No. 38 containing the above in the concurrent list has been abolished.

Despite this complete abolition, the federal ministries of education and religion have been repeatedly trying to encroach upon the provincial domain. Federal Education Minister Maulana Balighur Rahman has called numerous meetings of the provincial education ministers to prevail upon them for the creation of a body or council under the guise of bringing ‘uniformity’ in curriculum. Similarly, the federal minister for religious affairs has been spearheading a campaign to add more divine texts and scriptures into the curriculum at the provincial level. Naturally, the PTI-JI government is toeing the same line as it is in consonance with their conservative agenda.

While abolishing the Entry 38, a new entry No.12 of FLL-II has been inserted that talks about standards in institutions for higher education, research, scientific, and technical education. The supporters of the centralised control of higher education have used this as an excuse to usurp the provincial authority. Though, even this Entry 12 gives a role to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to harmonise the standards in higher education. Advocates of centralism have tried to extend this to include the regulation of policy and planning within the federal domain. They don’t even want the CCI to play a role in it.

Now the LHC decision has rightly put this debate to an end. Anyway, around 90 per cent of the universities in Pakistan have charters granted by the provincial governments and now they should assert their authority. Especially the KP and Balochistan governments should launch their HECs and empower them to make decisions.

The second important event was the two-day conference in Lahore on promotion of peace and tolerance on the university campuses. The Punjab HEC and the working group on peace and tolerance played an instrumental role in organising this conference where 27 public-sector universities participated. The PHEC chairman, Dr Nizamuddin, has been a rare voice of sanity in the public-sector universities, otherwise marked by conservative elements that lack any insight into how societies should structure their education for peace and tolerance. The output of the conference was a solid set of recommendations that should be implemented in letter and spirit not only in Punjab but also in all other universities in the country.

For example, the very first recommendation suggests that there ‘should be no exclusion and marginalisation based on ideology, race, language, and gender’. Surprisingly, this itself excludes religion and sect. As we know, the worst exclusion and marginalisation is taking place on campuses based on religion and sect, in addition to the identities mentioned above. Probably the framers of recommendations didn’t want to touch the most horrific discrimination. The second recommendation highlights the importance of holding dialogues in a free environment for expression and generation of new ideas.

One wonders if this recommendation gels with our pro-establishment and pro-central hegemony officials and intelligence agencies who specifically discourage any debates on the rights of nationalities and minorities in the country. Other recommendations talk about the promotion of social sciences, especially the history, philosophy, and the theory of science. This is an outstanding recommendation to inculcate a scientific attitude of enquiry into young minds. But again, science teaches us to question everything and use the crucible of evidence before accepting any proposition; are our establishment and the proponents of absolute and unquestionable truths ready for this?

Another recommendation suggests the introduction of courses on peace and tolerance, volunteerism and civic education ‘to produce humans instead of robotic professionals’. How well-put this is. Look around and you find professionals devoid of any civic sense, doctors believing in supernatural forces, engineers erecting sub-standard structures, and information technologist forwarding emails promoting non-sense.

The list of recommendations also suggests revision of Pakistan and Islamic Studies syllabi, and inclusion of more extracurricular activities. But one recommendation about depoliticisation shows that the root cause is still misunderstood. It is not politics but a lack of it that causes intolerance and violence.

Politics is the art of managing your society. Repeated dictatorships have deprived our young people of their right to have a say in this social management called politics. Our current sorry state of affairs is the result of an imposed depoliticisation, and not the other way around. The recommendations, though lacking in many respect, still offer a good set of suggestions to improve peace and tolerance.

Other provinces should follow Punjab and initiate working groups on campuses and at the provincial levels so that a culture of dialogue is initiated. Just by blaming the federal government and the HEC, provincial governments are not going to achieve anything. The time is now to act and act fast, if we want our campuses to be safe for our youth coming from all ethnic groups, genders, nationalities, religions, and sects.