the first and the worst setback of devolution is the fact that the Higher Education Commission would lose $300 million loan approved by the World Bank (WB) to support its various programmes for the next five years. Devolution may deprive HEC of $300m World Bank loan
Actually the thing is we are not loyal with our country, with our job or even with ourselves, then what we can expect from these institutions and other government sector that they will play positive role in the development of our country. We need change and also the true leadership which leads us towards success thats it…
This is very bad news. Shows that this PPP government is being run by selfish morons. These waderas care less about Pakistan and more about their party.
**i always wonder why we always blame the politicians? politicians after all come from the same society. i would say we ALL have to be blamed for our misfortune. we see that day in and day out that everyone [well, a vast majority of people by far] is engaged in ripping the country off according to their position and status in the society. MiyaaN Jumman [John Doe] a peon in the offices will be happy with a "baKhshish" of Rs.100 while the elite like Prime Minister and President will accept millions, even billions as kickbacks. individuals from general public will grab whatever they can.
if we desire progress and a clean society then we have to CLEAN ourselves thus cleaning the society from within.**
While the devolvement of HEC entirely is probably a political decision if Sohail Naqvi is saying so, there is a debate to be had whether Pakistan should be spending so much on one of the main functions performed by HEC (Phd scholarships). The amount it takes to train 10 phds for 4 years abroad you could school a million children at home for 10 years (literally). Given that 1 in 10 of the world's children of school going age who arent going to school are from Pakistan, we need to devote resources there. If this helps focus resources in that direction, Im not unhappy about it. We need an LEC not an HEC at the moment. Of course thats a big if. Nevertheless from my perspective HEC (scholarships) were an undoubtedly beneficial but pretty costly program that might just have been questionable even if the decision was taken for the right reasons.
Sorry I might have edited my post after you responded... added this part that covers what you say: Of course thats a big if. Nevertheless from my perspective HEC (scholarships) were an undoubtedly beneficial but pretty costly program that might just have been questionable even if the decision was taken for the right reasons.
You are right.....higher education in this country is mostly bollocks........whenever i go to a university i see thousands n thousands of students studying the 'arts' groups of subjects........history,geography,social sciences etc etc ....... thats utterly useless for the country.......
Moreover there is nothing done at federal level about highschool education.......which if improved would automatically lead to better standards in higher education.......but education and health at the bottom of the list of priorities.......so.
While the devolvement of HEC entirely is probably a political decision if Sohail Naqvi is saying so, there is a debate to be had whether Pakistan should be spending so much on one of the main functions performed by HEC (Phd scholarships). The amount it takes to train 10 phds for 4 years abroad you could school a million children at home for 10 years (literally). Given that 1 in 10 of the world's children of school going age who arent going to school are from Pakistan, we need to devote resources there. If this helps focus resources in that direction, Im not unhappy about it. We need an LEC not an HEC at the moment. Of course thats a big if. Nevertheless from my perspective HEC (scholarships) were an undoubtedly beneficial but pretty costly program that might just have been questionable even if the decision was taken for the right reasons.
Do you think they will spend that money on building schools or do you think it would go to someone's pocket?
Btw, I know someone who is doing phd in the US in chemical engineering on govt scholarship from Pakistan & he has no intention of going back to Pakistan or working there, as he must, under terms of his agreement. So, I can see how this is waste of money no matter how you look at it.
yes i was only saying that its a costly programme that isnt necessarily that targeted to our needs, that we probably wouldnt have if we had good governance, so im not too upset about democracy etc on this.
since it was funded by loans and so on, there might not be that much money to divert elsewhere into pockets anyway. for an economy under severe inflationary pressure that might not be a bad thing.
yeah i know people like that too. although i also know people who did go back, one of them told me for the first time LUMS is in a position to turn down Phds on quality whereas before they didnt have the luxury.
Do you think they will spend that money on building schools or do you think it would go to someone's pocket?
Btw, I know someone who is doing phd in the US in chemical engineering on govt scholarship from Pakistan & he has no intention of going back to Pakistan or working there, as he must, under terms of his agreement. So, I can see how this is waste of money no matter how you look at it.
As far as I know, he wont be able to stay because Govt scholars go on J1s, and the US Customs and Immigration does not allow an immediate transfer of status from J1s.
Regardless of this PhD issue, there are many other good things HEC was doing. Even if PhD program is too much to bear still it makes no sense to bundle up other HEC functions. Just stop the PhD program and let HEC continue its other jobs.
Honestly, I never expected people opposing higher education. Do you really think money saved from being spent on higher education can be used better somewhere else?
Such acts by the government are actually encouraging those people not to return. If these people know that they will be treated like cr** when they return then obviously they will try to stay out. If issue is them not returning then incentives need to be increased. But if aim is to just close the program then this is just an excuse.
ISLAMABAD: Renowned nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan has strongly opposed what he has called the destruction of the country’s highest forum to guarantee for quality of education, the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
“There is a move to destroy the Higher Education Commission by shredding it to pieces and hand these pieces to the provinces. This is a sure recipe for disaster.
Pakistani universities have produced nearly the same number of PhDs in the last 8 years (3280) since the establishment of HEC as in the first 55 years (3000) of its existence. Today we produce 10 times more PhDs in Engineering and Technology than ever in the past (140 in last 8 years, versus 14 in first 55 years). The universities are now able to produce more PhDs over the next 3 years than it was over the last 8 years.
Research output has also grown six-folds since 2002 (from 815 in 2002 to 5068 in 2010): 80% of these research publications are coming from HEIs. Output has more than doubled just in the last 3 years and is expected to double again in the next 3 years. Today Pakistan has caught up with Thailand and Malaysia, which had a head start on us by almost 6-7 years. A boom is in the offing!
Already, according to QS World Universities Rankings 2010, 2 Universities: NUST (274), and UET (281) are now in top 300 Technology Universities of the World, while MUET is in top 400.
**For Technology Transfer to Industry, HEC is working on Development of High-Tech Incubators. **Those in the pipeline at the universities include at UA Faisalabad, UET Peshawar, UET Lahore, NED, and NUST.
According to AQ Khan, this is being done to HEC because it refused to bow to political pressure, and refused to verify forged degrees from “people’s” representatives.
First HEC funds were stopped and now government has decided to wither away this institution altogether.
Regardless of this PhD issue, there are many other good things HEC was doing. Even if PhD program is too much to bear still it makes no sense to bundle up other HEC functions. Just stop the PhD program and let HEC continue its other jobs.
I dont know much of what else HEC does to be honest, which is why I specifically talked about the Phd programme (as does AQ Khan).
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Honestly, I never expected people opposing higher education. Do you really think money saved from being spent on higher education can be used better somewhere else?
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If the money is a loan from the World Bank etc, as asserted by other posters here, then that means less pressure on Pakistan's economy. And yes I do think money saved from being spent on higher education can be better used elsewhere, I gave my reasons for it.
At any rate, Im under no illusions of any money saved being put to where it is actually needed, I just said its not a program I would have in my education department if I was running the country.
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Such acts by the government are actually encouraging those people not to return. If these people know that they will be treated like cr** when they return then obviously they will try to stay out. If issue is them not returning then incentives need to be increased. But if aim is to just close the program then this is just an excuse.
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Not really. If the market is flooded by phds, including domestically trained phds, people have less incentive to return, not more. Also people return if they have good money to return to. If they are required to return though, there is no incentive for the universities taking them on to pay them better.
