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  Low enrollment in higher education Quality  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

HEC Plan of Action Infrastructure Development: Physical, Technology Good Governance & Management Quality Assurance: Standards, Assessment, Accreditation Faculty Development Improving Access & Learning Excellence in Research Relevance to National Priorities Core Support

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  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  Defining QA Procedures  Establishing Standards  Capacity Building Degree Verification Statistics Compilation & Ranking Liaison with  Professional Accreditation Bodies  Provinces  International QA Agencies

Quality Assurance Criteria 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 SERVICES PROVIDED HEC Website Digital Library E-books Pakistan Research Repository MIT Open Courseware du.pk du.pk

Higher Education Web Portal

National Digital Library No. of Institutions given Access Training of NDL No. of Journals ( Online) Articles Downloaded Research Output

Curriculum Division Before 2004, Bachelor’s programme was of 2-year duration Initiation of 4-year BS programme was taken up in 2004 and HEC designed a uniform curricula for about 60 disciplines by the year 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 2002HEC in 2007 Total Development Funding Rs. 4.3BRs. 14.3B Total Development Projects Total Funds Released in Past 5 Years Rs BRs B Total Funds Utilized in 5 Years Rs. 1.88Rs B Number of Institutions Funded 4576

Development Funding

Recurring Funding UGC in 2002HEC in 2007 Total BudgetRs. 3.39BRs B Number of Funded Students132,226256,994 Number of Funded Institutions6999 Inter Univ. Acad. Activities Budget Rs. 4MRs. 590M Promotion of Research BudgetRs. 46MRs. 650M Number of MPhil/PhD Students6,74412,856 Percentage Self Generated Funds 48%55% Library Budget (Incl. Dig. Lib)-Rs. 230M Recurring Funding per StudentRs. 25,629Rs. 56,345 Funding per COE/ASCRs MRs M Funding per ChairRs MRs M

IMPACT of HEC

Pakistan Research Output

Human Resource Development Description UGC in 2002HEC in 2007 Indigenous Scholarship Projects Total Number of Projects24 Scholarships Availed Overseas Scholarship Projects Total Number of Projects015 Scholarships Availed01428 (1131) Post Doctoral Fellowships Total Number of Projects11 Fellowships Availed45259 Foreign Faculty Hiring Program Total Number of Projects03 Total Number of Faculties hired0258 (175 st.)

Quality Assurance UGC in 2002HEC in 2007 Ranking of UniversitiesNot AvailableAvailable Quality Enhancement Cells030 Accreditation Councils711 Quality Assurance AgencyNoneEstablished Approved Journal CriteriaNoneNotified Approved Journals077 Tenure Track Faculty0110 MPhil/PhD Award CriteriaVariedStandardized Eligibility Criteria for appointment of faculty members VariedStandardized Affiliation CriteriaVariedStandardized Tenure Track StatutesN/AStandardized

HEC IT Evolution UGC in 2002HEC in 2007 Total HR Basic IT Aware employees8550 IT HR243 Servers015 Computers + Laptop Printers5150 Network0750 nodes LinksNoAir link, Fiber Internet56kbps8 Mbps Web site (Hits)100200k+/month ServerNoYes Digital LibraryNoYes Video ConferencingNoYes

Learning Innovation Short Term Professional Development Courses Long Term Professional Development Courses Open/Customized Workshops/Seminars Lectures/Seminars by Foreign Experts Training through HEC Capacity Building Programs ICDL Training imparted ICDL Resource Centers 0 05 __________________________________________________________________ GRAND TOTAL No. Of Faculty Trained UGC in 2002HEC in 2007

The Next 5 Years

Projecting HE enrollment and population age group Age pop univ enrollment in 000 (Incl. Distance Education) colleges enrollment univ+colg enrol % univ enrol/pop % colg enrol/pop % HE (univ+colg) enrol/pop

Source: WB HE Assessment Report (2006) Are there Students ?

Additional Faculty Required (Public Sector)

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 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