PAKISTAN’S MIRAGE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Dawn · Taha Ali ·
Here is a look at the good, the bad and the ugly in the wide-ranging landscape of our higher education system today.
Twenty-four years ago, on September 11, 2002, Gen Pervez Musharraf signed the Higher Education Commission Ordinance that formally launched Pakistan’s ground-breaking higher education reforms.
This legislation dissolved the University Grants Commission and, in its place, created the Higher Education Commission (HEC) with vast regulatory, financial and administrative autonomy, and an express mandate to restructure the national higher education system and set Pakistan on course to become a knowledge economy.
Over the next five years, the budget allocation for higher education went up by 5,000 percent. Billions were poured into setting up new universities. A landmark agreement was negotiated with the US to launch what was then considered the world’s largest Fulbright scholarship programme, worth $150 million. Some 5,000 PhD level scholarships were announced for foreign universities, the largest such programme undertaken by a developing country, as well as 3,000 indigenous scholarships. A tenure track system with very competitive salaries was launched to attract and retain the finest academics.