No one is in favour of amendments to HEC ordinance

• One member of a certain task force pushing one amendment to the HEC ordinance after another.
• The common thread that runs through them all is the seizure of authority from the HEC by MoFEPT.
• PM Office should distance itself from this matter, rein in these attempts and even reverse earlier amendments.

KARACHI: In 2021, the PTI government embarked on an effort to cut down the authority of the chairman of the HEC of the time. On paper, the effort looked like it was driven by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT), when it was in fact being pushed by the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

In the PMO, it was one member of a certain task force pushing one amendment to the HEC ordinance after another. The ham-handedness and haphazard manner in which these amendments were being designed can be gauged by their number — two last year alone, with attempts of a third not materialising because it was overtaken by greater political events early this year.

As the end of the year nears, efforts to push through that third amendment have been revived. The common thread that runs through them all is the seizure of authority from the HEC by MoFEPT.

Crucially, it reduces the size of the commission’s membership by removing the secretary S&T / IT, four nominees of the provincial governments, and reducing the external members from ten to only six.

The justification given by the MoFEPT for all these changes is that this will “empower” the HEC. What it will really do is restructure the commission membership to give greater control over its proceedings and hang the sword of Damocles over the chairperson’s head; the chair will be put under greater pressure to stay in the good graces of the MoFEPT – the very antithesis of empowerment.

A second justification that has been given is that it will “strengthen HEC’s role viz-a-viz provincial HECs”. It is unlikely that provincial HECs will support the federal ministry’s power grab of higher education matters.

Where do relevant parties with a stake in changes in the HEC stand? The man in the PM Office who was pulling a lot of the strings earlier is gone.

When the first two amendments were being pushed in 2021 and challenged in court, Dr Ahsan Iqbal and Senator Dr Musadik Masood Malik were among opposition members that attended the hearings and openly expressed their opposition to said amendments.

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to ask Dr Ahsan Iqbal, now minister for planning, development and reforms, for his position on the amendment in the works. He still supports the repeal of the amendments pushed through under the PTI and restoration of the HEC Ordinance, 2002 to its original form.

To no one’s surprise, senior officials at the HEC are not supporting the new amendment either, terming it a power grab. They can see themselves wasting more time at the MoFEPT, seeking approvals and slowing down the pace of work at the HEC.

The amendment currently in the works will effectively make the HEC into a ‘Department of Higher Education’ attached with the MoFEPT. Its stature would be little different than that of the National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) (and other departments).

If this perspective sounds too dramatic, know that it is shared by every observer I spoke to who is in the know and wishes to remain anonymous.

I have often been critical of the job the HEC does because it suffers from mission creep. Everything remotely related to higher education is laid at its feet.

One thing should be absolutely clear: no one is in favour of this series of amendments to the HEC ordinance, except the people pushing them. The justifications given for them are bogus.

The proposed amendment has already been reviewed by the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) which has essentially given it a nod. It will now be placed before the cabinet at its next meeting.

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It is important that well-wishers of this government apprise the PM about this amendment and how it will tarnish this government’s higher education credentials. Instead of being recognised as the ones who put on the brakes and reversed the damage done to the HEC under the PTI government, it will be the one that shepherded its agenda to its conclusion and put the last nail in the HEC’s coffin. The PM Office should distance itself from this matter, rein in these attempts and even reverse the remnants of earlier amendments.