Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

Bad news from another important front (education). Another blow to already low Higher Education standard and opportunities in Pakistan.

Zardari has yet to approve the resignation lets see !

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

A loss indeed....

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

Thats a loss; while not perfect, he was definitely a good person for this job. Its been a long time though, almost 9 years since he assumed the role. Hes still heading COMSTECH.

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

While he did do some positive work, I think the HEC could have done with some new blood a few years back.

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

whoever gave him this authority, deserves praise.

6

Right, post 2003-2004 there was a lot of corruption and stubbornness in the HEC. Daudpota, Hoodbhoy addressed many of these in the press. To date, the only reputable institutions we have are still the ones we had before Dr. Atta's time. There was a big sprout in smaller less reputable institutions though. However, Dr. Atta did manage to send alot of people abroad, who are to come back and teach at these Pakistani universities and colleges.

7

even if we only see his achievements in setting Pakistan's up for higher studies (I am talking about research and PHD degrees)

8

A loss indeed! He really did transform the higher education landscape. Nobody is perfect but all that he did is commendable. Personally met him quite a few times. Its not easy to find people with such dedication and caliber.

~*~ Time Pass June 2012 ~*~
9

I am sure Mr Zardari will find one of his lotas to replace him regardless of whether he / she is qualified or not.

10

A PPP senator may become the new HEC chairman.

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

**Javed Leghari likely to be appointed new Chairman of HEC **

ISLAMABAD: Govt has decided to appoint President SZABIST Javed Leghari as a new Chairman of Higher Education Commission HEC, while Federal Government has stop funding to pressurize Dr Atta-ur-Rehman for resignation.
According to reliable sources, after a huge pressure from government, Chairman HEC is likely to resign from his post and Javed Leghari will be appointed its new Chairman.
Dr Atta-ur-Rehman was a close companion of former President Pervez Musharraf, while several other companions of Musharraf like Chairman FBR Abdullah Yousuf, Chairman PTA Shahzada Alam, Chairman PCB Dr Nasim Ashraf and spokesman of President House Rashid Qureshi have resigned from their posts. Chairman Dr Atta-ur-Rehman was also accused of issuing funds to his favorite universities including Comsats University.
Javed Leghari has a stature in the field of Science and Technology on the world level and secured “Tamgha-e-Imtiaz”, while currently he is working as a President of SZABIST. He has issued 120 different research papers and 70 International Conferences. He was appointed as chairman of International Conference for Engineering in 1992 and remained member of NATO advance studies, Ministry of Science and Technologies, Private export, Soft wears Board and New York Academy of Science. He also remained Director of State University New York. He has secured several world Awards of leadership in 1987,88 and 99.

ONLINE - International News Network

His personal Website http://www.laghari.org/

12

So he resigned/will-resign under pressure.

The new (potential) guy seems to be educated one too (unlike Rehman Malik etc.) hope this guy can continue and improve what Dr Attaur Rehman did.

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

Javed Leghari IMO is a better choice, so I hope he performs even better than Atta. Atta was a top organic chemist, whereas this guy is an expert in science and technology and has experience running higher education universities. They should also make sure he works in a way that he can leave in 4 years, and his projects viable enough to continue in the next term. All the best to him.

14

The only thing weird about him, atleast in my opinion is that he is a hardcore jiyala. How can a sane person be a Benazir supporter, after all the corruption she did?

Anyway, today I heard its somebody else who is being made the HEC chairman.

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

Rift develops among PPP’s ranks over HEC top slot

        By ASMA GHANI submitted  1 day 9 hours ago                                                               ISLAMABAD:- A tug of war is in full swing within the ruling Pakistan People’s Party for a lucrative slot of Chairman Higher Education Commission  recently vacated by Dr Atta-ur-Rehman.

According to sources, the Cabinet Division has short listed three out of nine aspirants for the HEC chair. All three either directly belong to the ruling party or having clear allegiance to the PPP, the sources added.
The sources told The Nation that the Cabinet Division has already forwarded the summary to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gailani proposing three names including Dr. Javaid R. Laghari, Dr. Asim Hussain and Shirin R. Tahir Kheli. Although all three short listed candidates are having competitive credentials, the sources tipped Dr. Asim as the most likely to be appointed as Chairman HEC.
At the same time the sources also hinted that the situation could be changed altogether as per the wills and wishes of the ruling party leadership. The sources refered to the practice in the past when the proposed names were dropped at the eleventh hour and suprisingly someone else was appointed. The sources quoted the instance of Shaheen Khan’s recent appointment as Chairperson whose name were not in the wishlist like the appointment of FBISE chairperson.
Dr. Asim Hussain is a Chancellor of Ziauddin University Karachi, a private sector varsity. Officials at the HEC believe that Dr. Asim is the suitable person for the job as he has the experience of running a private university and he can negotiate with the government to release the slashed grant in a better way.
The second contender Dr. Javaid R. Laghari is the President and Project Director of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Buhtto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST). He specializes in Leadership, Higher Education, Information Technology, High Voltage Systems and Space Power Technology, and has published over 120 research papers and presented over 70 papers at International Conferences.
Prior to joining SZABIST, Dr. Laghari was the Director of Graduate Studies and Tenured Full Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, USA. SUNY is the largest research university in the United States.
While Shirin R. Tahir Kheli is the Senior Adviser for women’s empowerment to the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a director for Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations. Ambassador Tahir Kheli has an M.A. and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/Islamabad/18-Oct-2008/Rift-develops-among-PPPs-ranks-over-HEC-top-slot

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

Dr Asim Hussain to be new Chairman of Higher Education Commission ](http://www.daily.pk/local/other-local/7823-dr-asim-hussain-to-be-new-chairman-of-higher-education-commission.pdf) ](http://www.daily.pk/local/other-local/7823-dr-asim-hussain-to-be-new-chairman-of-higher-education-commission.html?tmpl=component&print=1&page=) ](http://www.daily.pk/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5kYWlseS5way9sb2NhbC9vdGhlci1sb2NhbC83ODIzLWRyLWFzaW0taHVzc2Fpbi10by1iZS1uZXctY2hhaXJtYW4tb2YtaGlnaGVyLWVkdWNhdGlvbi1jb21taXNzaW9uLmh0bWw%3D) Written by Pakistan Daily: Breaking News, Pakistan, World, Politics, Business & Sports News Saturday, 18 October 2008 19:00 Final decision for appointing Dr Asim Hussain as new Chairman of Higher Education Commission HEC has been taken while its notification is likely to be issued on Monday. According to reliable sources, a summary comprising three names for appointing new Chairman of HEC was sent to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani among which the name of Dr Asim Hussain has been finalized.
According to details the Cabinet Division has sent three names Dr Asim Hussain, Dr Javed Leghari and Sherry Tahir Khaili for the Chairmanship of HEC. It is worth mentioning that Dr Asim Hussain is working as Vice Chancellor of Zia-ud-Din University Karachi while Dr Javed Leghari is Chairman of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technologies (ZABIST) while after the resignation of Dr Atta-ul Rehman Dr Javed Leghari was considered favorite for the Chairmanship of HEC.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Muslim League PML-N has criticized the government for appointing new Chairman of HEC on political basis. Former Minister for Education Ahsan Iqbal has stressed the government to appoint Chairman of HEC on merit basis.

So People, What Are You Wearing?
17

I am sick of the Dr. Atta-ur-rehman bashing in newspapers. Nobody is perfect but the guy did a great job!!!

Just because he was appointed by General Mush, doesn't mean that everything he did was bad.

So People, What Are You Wearing?
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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

I was reading an article AQ Khan wrote about him too, and it wasnt pretty. Seems like Dr. Atta has alot of critics. Btw lansing, I was actually in Lansing yesterday, at a community dinner and alot of HEC scholars there were bashing Dr. Atta too.

So People, What Are You Wearing?
19

You are right. Some people could not see good work because they have glasses of bias on their eyes, full of hate, personal grudge, or whatever, just because probably they, their friends, or their family members could not do corruption, loot and plunder during last 8 years. As for others, works of a person speaks louder than words.

Dr Rehman in reply to his critics has put down some of his achievements recognised by international neutral world bodies. If anyone has doubt about abilities and work of Dr Rehman, what he did for Pakistan as Chairman of HEC, then they should do some research of their own and check international recognition and appraises of his work mentioned by these world recognised bodies, instead of confining themselves with comments of people who are keeping their gene to the original. If they want to, they can also check all other claims made by Dr Rehman.

Here is reply of Dr Rehman to his critics, given most elegantly and professionally, without personal attacks. His way of response, full of facts, figures, and quotations, shows a grace most Pakistani lacks:

Dr Atta tells Dr Khan 47 new varsities set up

Sunday, October 19, 2008
News Desk

LAHORE: Outgoing Chairman of the Higher Education Commission, Dr Attaur Rehman, has issued a long rejoinder to nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan who had recently criticized the performance of the HEC and Dr Atta for not using billions of taxpayers’ funds properly.

In his rejoinder Dr Atta thanked Dr AQ Khan for not doubting his and integrity but said his statement appears to be based on some serious misunderstandings as not one but 47 new universities had been established in the last six years.

“As many as 47 new universities had been established and 18 new campuses of universities have also been established during the six year period of HEC’s existence,” he said. University enrolment has almost tripled from 135,123 to 363,700 during this 6 year period of HEC thereby providing far more opportunities of our youth to acquire higher education.

“It has been alleged that 6 foreign universities were planned to be set up in Pakistan but not a single one has been established. Actually, it was only in February 2008 that 4 projects for the establishment of universities in collaboration with Germany, Italy, Austria and China were approved.
Subsequently, the new government established a Cabinet Committee to review the programme and to consider if funding could be made available for it. The Cabinet has yet to make a final decision in this respect and so the programme has been essentially frozen, largely due to the serious financial situation of Pakistan. How could money have been wasted for this programme when not a single new building for these universities has so far been built or faculty hired?

The need to establish foreign universities in Pakistan has been questioned. It needs to be understood that without a critical number of world class engineers and scientists, Pakistan cannot hope to compete in the highly competitive global economy. Our students would be exposed to high quality faculty from foreign countries, follow their curriculum, pass their examinations and get degrees from top universities from Germany, France etc.

They would therefore reach international standards of education, science and engineering in a very short period. India produces over 400,000 engineering graduates annually while Pakistan produces only about 8,000 engineering graduates. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) set up in 1960s helped to transform India and ushered in an IT revolution—-as a result India presently earns tens of billions of dollars in exports of software. India has also decided to expand its present programme of IITs and also significantly increase the number of Indian Institute of Science so that it could compete with advanced countries.

**It has been claimed that HEC programmes have not had any major impact on higher education. This is completely incorrect as proved by the following facts: **

(a) In a recent USAID Report (still in draft form) it is stated that: “We are very impressed with the breadth, scope, and depth of the reforms implemented by the HEC since 2002. No other developing country we know has made such spectacular progress.”

(b) The world’s top science journal “Nature” in an editorial published on 28th August 2008 acknowledged “the solid foundations” built by HEC during the last 6 years under my Chairmanship and urged the new government to continue to support this important sector to prevent us from going back to the “Stone Age”.

(c) The World Bank was asked by Government of Pakistan to carry out the performance audit of HEC. A 128 page report published by the World Bank has praised the excellent initiatives by HEC.

(d) The British Council in another recent comprehensive report published earlier this year has praised my own leadership as Chairman HEC in the following words “I have worked in many countries in South America, the Middle East, North Africa, and in Russia and India, over the last six years. None in my view, with the exception of India , has the potential of Pakistan for the UK university sector, largely because of the dynamic, strategic leadership of the Chairman of HEC”

(e) “Science Watch” published by the Thomson Reuters group have recently given Pakistan the “Rising Star” status in five fields of science and engineering, the highest number achieved by any country in the world.

(f) The enormous emphasis laid by HEC on research has resulted in 400% increase in research output in international journals from Pakistani universities. The research output in international journals originating from Pakistani institutions has grown from a only about 600 research articles in year 2002 to over 1714 by the year 2006 and 2407 articles in 2007.

(g) During the 56 year period (1947-2003) not a single Pakistani university could qualify to reach the ranks of the top 600 universities in the world. Today 3 of Pakistani universities are in this category with the National University of Science and Technology standing at a very respectable number 376.

(k) Previously our degrees were not recognized internationally as we had only 16 years of study programmes before students obtained the Masters degrees. HEC introduced a 4-year undergraduate programme which is being implemented in a phased manner over a 3 year period. This will result in international recognition of Pakistani degrees.

(h) A huge emphasis has been placed on quality of education. National rankings of our universities were published, thereby generating competition.. Quality Assurance Cells have been established in different universities and student evaluation of teachers’ performance introduced.

(i) Video-conferencing facility has been provided in 28 universities with the key feature of live interactive lectures from technologically advanced countries.

(j) A major national research grant programme was launched. The National Research Programme for Universities (NRPU) facilitates research pursuits of researchers. The year saw the approval of 195 projects in Agriculture, Food Sciences, Archeology, Biological Sciences, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics and Pharmacy for funding over a maximum period of three years. There is tangible excitement in the air where faculty members are working in their state-of-the -art and well equipped laboratories.

(k) Strict financial discipline is maintained by HEC. All its programmes have been regularly audited by government auditors as well as private international auditors. It is also the first government institution which fully implemented SAP accounting system thereby being completely transparent in all transactions.

(l) A major programme of post- doctoral training in top foreign universities has been initiated which has already benefited some 200 faculty members.

(m) A strict project monitoring system was introduced and quarterly reports are sent to Planning, Finance and the Chancellors of public sector institutions.

(n) A transparent process of appointment of Vice- Chancellors was introduced based on open advertisement and final recommendation by a search committee comprising eminent scholars.

It has been stated in an earlier article which appeared in the newspaper that too much money has been spent on higher education at the cost of lower level education. This is incorrect. Less than 15% of the entire education budget is spent on higher education. According to international norms at least 25-30% of national budget should be spent on higher education. During the last two years per student expenditure has actually gone down by about 30% due to inflation and the tripling student enrolment.

Has HEC made a difference in the last 6 years as compared to performance of the erstwhile UGC in the previous 56 years. One needs only to talk to any Vice-Chancellor of a public sector university or visit hundreds of new institutions established during the last 6 years to get a fruitful answer.

One is at liberty to turn a blind eye to HEC’s achievements, but they will not cease to exist. What is presented above are undeniable facts and in the final analysis what matters is not what my supporters or critics say, but the opinions of neutral international experts mentioned above who have carried out a detailed analysis of the Higher Education sector in Pakistan and paid glowing tributes to our achievements.

To identify me with President Musharraf or any other past government is incorrect, although I must acknowledge the tremendous support provided to HEC by General Musharraf. I am a scientist and not a politician. I received four Civil Awards (Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Nishan-i-Imtiaz) from successive governments of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Mohtarama Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Mr. Shaukat Aziz. I have tried to serve my country honestly and to the best of my abilities and will continue to do so Inshallah in the years to come.

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Re: Dr Atta-ur Rehman resigns as HEC Chairman

Thank you for posting that Saleem. On top of whats being said about him, our nuclear scientist Dr. Qadeer just wasted his words. His remaining silent would have reflected truly of his caliber.