Country Case: Pakistan
National Strategy and Vision
for Higher Education
By
Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi
Executive Director
Higher Education Commission, Islamabad
Outline of Presentation

Background





Higher Education Commission Formation
Function of the HEC
National Strategy & Vision
Impact of HEC
The next 5 years
Higher Education Commission
Background:
 Peril and Promise: Higher Education in Developing Countries,
World Bank, 2000
 Task Force on Higher Education in Pakistan, Report (2001)
 Steering Committee on Higher Education, Report (2002)
Higher Education Commission
 Constituted on September 11, 2002 under Ordinance No. LIII,
2002
 Autonomous: Prime Minister of Pakistan: Controlling Authority
 Chairman HEC: Status of Federal Minister
 Executive Director, HEC


Has status of Federal Secretary
Is the Principal Accounting Officer of the Commission
Functions of the HEC



Higher Education Development & Promotion Policy
 Formulate policies, guiding principles and priorities for
higher education Institutions
Financial Responsibilities
 Submit to the Federal Government the recurring and
development budgets for public sector Institutions
 Allocate funds to public sector Institution out of bulk
financial provision received from the government and
other resources on performance and need basis
Facilitate the introduction of educational programmes
that meet the needs of the employment market
Functions: Quality Assurance




Prescribe conditions for opening and
operating HEIs in the private sector
Cause evaluation of the performance of
Institutions;
Carry out accreditation of Institutions
including their departments, faculties and
disciplines by giving them appropriate ratings
Determine the equivalence and recognition of
degrees, diplomas and certificates ….;
HEC Mission

To Facilitate Institutions of Higher
Learning to serve as an Engine of
Socio-Economic Development of
Pakistan
Key Areas of Improvement

Access


Quality




Low enrollment in higher education
Poor standard of faculty and lack of training /
capacity building
Low quality of teaching & research and lack of
relevance to national needs
Poor governance of universities
Relevance

Minimal relevance of higher education to national
needs
Core
HEC Plan of Action
Faculty
Development
Improving
Access &
Learning
Excellence in
Research
Relevance to
National
Priorities
Support
Infrastructure Development: Physical, Technology
Good Governance & Management
Quality Assurance: Standards, Assessment, Accreditation
Training the Brightest!

Massive Foreign scholarship programs



Focus on European Countries & China
World’s largest Fulbright Scholarship
program for the US
Indigenous PhD programs


Strict criteria for PhD Studies
Complete Scholarship package


Stipend, research support, tuition etc.
Huge Local Scholarship Programs for
Undergraduate level studies
Attracting the Brightest Faculty!

Changing the Environment



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
Transforming UGC
New University buildings, laboratories, facilities
Access to information
Access to sophisticated instrumentation
Change in Salary Structures


under “Tenure Track” system salaries of Professors
raised dramatically
Research Productivity Allowance (based on
Cumulative Impact Factors during the preceding
year)
Attracting the Brightest!

Research Funding





Competitive – Peer Reviewed
Grants to Attend Conferences
Grants to host conferences
75% Reduction of Income Tax for all
academics
Reversing the Brain Drain



Guaranteed Jobs to fresh PhD.s with higher salary
structures under tenure track system
Short Term Foreign Faculty Hiring
Long Term Foreign Faculty Hiring
A Focus on Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance Structure





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Defining QA Procedures
Establishing Standards
Capacity Building
Degree Verification
Statistics Compilation & Ranking
Liaison with



Professional Accreditation Bodies
Provinces
International QA Agencies
Quality Assurance Criteria

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4 Year Undergraduate Program
Eligibility Criteria for Faculty Appointment
Tenure Track System
Criteria for Recognition of Journals
College Affiliation Criteria
Quality Criteria for PhD Program



Course Work at MPhil./PhD level
International Refereeing of Dissertation
International Publication
HEC’s Major IT Initiatives





INFRASTRUCTURE
IT Reforms in
Universities
Pakistan Education &
Research Network
(PERN)
PAKSAT-1
Virtual University



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

SERVICES
PROVIDED
HEC Website
Digital Library
E-books
Pakistan Research
Repository
MIT Open
Courseware
http://mitocw.pern.e
du.pk
Higher Education Web Portal
National Digital Library
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
No. of Institutions
given Access
-
-
110
170
250
Training of NDL
-
-
5100
7500
10000
No. of Journals
-
-
14500
20000
22000+
-
-
450000
+
665000
+
1200000
+
788
890
1048
1257
1500+
(Online)
Articles
Downloaded
Research Output
Curriculum Division
Before 2004, Bachelor’s programme was of 2-year duration.
2004
Initiation of 4-year BS programme was taken up in 2004 and
HEC designed a uniform curricula for about 60 disciplines by
the year 2006.
2006
Template for Agriculture was designed and
implemented in various Agric. Disciplines
April
2007
Uniform Template for Engineering, Basic and Social
Sciences was designed.
Development of uniform curricula, in line with the templates
developed, for the following disciplines are in progress.



7 disciplines of Basic Sciences
2 disciplines of Humanities
14 disciplines of Engineering
Development Funding
UGC in 2002
HEC in 2007
Total Development
Funding
Rs. 4.3B
Rs. 14.3B
Total Development
Projects
147
354
Total Funds Released in
Past 5 Years
Rs. 1.881B
Rs. 33.309B
Total Funds Utilized in 5
Years
Rs. 1.88
Rs. 26.68B
45
76
Number of Institutions
Funded
Development Funding
Allocation of Budget in Approved Projects
Others
1%
HRD
59%
Infrastructure
21%
Research
Enhancement
15%
Access to
Information
4%
Recurring Funding
UGC in 2002
HEC in 2007
Rs. 3.39B
Rs. 14.48B
132,226
256,994
69
99
Rs. 4M
Rs. 590M
Promotion of Research Budget
Rs. 46M
Rs. 650M
Number of MPhil/PhD Students
6,744
12,856
Percentage Self Generated
Funds
48%
55%
Library Budget (Incl. Dig. Lib)
-
Rs. 230M
Recurring Funding per Student
Rs. 25,629
Rs. 56,345
Funding per COE/ASC
Rs. 5.641M
Rs. 20.362M
Funding per Chair
Rs. 0.936M
Rs. 3.136M
Total Budget
Number of Funded Students
Number of Funded Institutions
Inter Univ. Acad. Activities
Budget
IMPACT of HEC
Pakistan Research Output
2001-2006
1800
1636
1600
1400
1257
1200
1048
1000
800
600
1532
890
788
636
460
576
1039
781
639
400
200
0
2001
2002
2003
2004
Pakistan Total University Output
2005
2006
Human Resource Development
Description
UGC in 2002
HEC in 2007
2
4
342
2861
0
15
0
1428 (1131)
1
1
45
259
Total Number of Projects
0
3
Total Number of Faculties hired
0
258 (175 st.)
Indigenous Scholarship Projects
Total Number of Projects
Scholarships Availed
Overseas Scholarship Projects
Total Number of Projects
Scholarships Availed
Post Doctoral Fellowships
Total Number of Projects
Fellowships Availed
Foreign Faculty Hiring Program
Quality Assurance
UGC in 2002
HEC in 2007
Not Available
Available
Quality Enhancement Cells
0
30
Accreditation Councils
7
11
Quality Assurance Agency
None
Established
Approved Journal Criteria
None
Notified
Approved Journals
0
77
Tenure Track Faculty
0
110
MPhil/PhD Award Criteria
Varied
Standardized
Eligibility Criteria for appointment
of faculty members
Varied
Standardized
Affiliation Criteria
Varied
Standardized
N/A
Standardized
Ranking of Universities
Tenure Track Statutes
HEC IT Evolution
UGC in 2002
HEC in 2007
250
750
Basic IT Aware employees
8
550
IT HR
2
43
Servers
0
15
7+0
500+72
Printers
5
150
Network
0
750 nodes
No
Air link, Fiber
56kbps
8 Mbps
Web site (Hits)
100
200k+/month
Email Server
No
Yes
Digital Library
No
Yes
Video Conferencing
No
Yes
Total HR
Computers + Laptop
Links
Internet
Learning Innovation
No. Of Faculty
Trained
UGC in 2002






Short Term Professional Development Courses
Long Term Professional Development Courses
HEC in 2007
530
0
4249
3399
Open/Customized Workshops/Seminars
Lectures/Seminars by Foreign Experts
0
0
295
190
Training through HEC Capacity Building Programs
ICDL Training imparted
0
0
428
246
ICDL Resource Centers
0
05
__________________________________________________________________

GRAND TOTAL
530
8807
The Next 5 Years
Projecting HE enrollment and
population age group
2007
2011
2016
21.4
25.4
30.2
univ enrollment in 000
(Incl. Distance Education)
574
955
1840
colleges enrollment 000
310
377
480
univ+colg enrol 000
884
1332
2320
% univ enrol/pop
2.7
3.8
6.1
% colg enrol/pop
1.4
1.5
1.6
% HE (univ+colg)
enrol/pop
4.1
5.2
7.7
Age 17-23 pop
Are there Students ?
Student pass HSC exam and univ intake (000),
2005-2015
800
HSC pass
700
univ intake
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Source: WB HE Assessment Report (2006)
Additional Faculty Required
(Public Sector)
Type of Institution
2006/7
2009/10 2012/13 2015/16
General
5011 (852)
6,206
8,423 12,766
Sciences
3340 (1516) 4,050
4,903
7,431
Agriculture
1295 (211)
1,828
2,596
3,928
Engineering
1789 (211)
2,588
3,684
5,644
Medical/Life Sci
682 (34)
917
1,270
1,953
Total Faculty needs
12,117 15,589 20,875 31,722
Additional Faculty
1,176
2,716
4,131
annual increase
1.18
1.08
1.15
1.15
Financial Realities

Education lies at the heart of
development



2% of GDP  4% of GDP
Higher Education at least 20% of Education
expenditure
The Government can not do it all



Universities must enhance own income
Private Sector Role is Crucial
Distance Education
HEC: The Next 5 Years
2007-2012
 Institutional Ownership





Quality Assurance
Governance
Recruitment of Faculty
Mega Development Projects
Public – Private Partnership
Conclusion

Higher Education in Pakistan




has a new lease on life !
Vital to sustainable poverty reduction
Key to building Pakistan’s Human Capital
HEC Focus on



Good Governance and Management
Efficient Implementation: Capacity Building
Relevance to National Priorities
Higher Education Commission
Fuelling National Growth