| The Steering Committee on Higher Education, notified by the President
of Pakistan on March 15, 2002, held its first meeting under the chairmanship
of Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President of Aga Khan University,
in Karachi today.
The high-level Committee's objective
is to prepare, before mid-August 2002, a plan for implementation
of the approved recommendations of the two task forces established
on the same concern by the government last year. Between now and
August the Committee, comprised of highly respected government and
private-sector representatives, will submit a monthly progress report
to the President of Pakistan.
The Committee's primary aim is to help transform Pakistan's
higher education institutions into world-class seats of learning
and research, and thus to enable the country to compete effectively
in a rapidly globalizing, knowledge-based economy. The Committee,
in its first meeting, decided that the quality of education can
be enhanced to this end only by instituting modern systems of governance
and management, including university autonomy, self-governance and
financial discipline in all universities and colleges. In particular,
the meeting focused on the need to separate governance from the
management of universities. This involves providing adequate resources
for faculty and staff, relating pay scales and benefits to performance,
developing structured links in research and other areas with the
industry, and orienting the universities and colleges towards servicing
student needs. The Committee will also develop an implementation
plan for the recommendation of the Task Force to institute in a
phased manner, four-year undergraduate programs, involving a broader
system of general education.
The Committee will visit all the provinces to dialogue with the
Governors, Vice Chancellors, faculty members and other stakeholders
of all universities. Production of the final deliverables will
be overseen by three sub-committees to be chaired by Dr. Ishrat
Hussain, Governor State Bank, Dr. Abdul Hafiz Sheikh, Finance Minister
in the Government of Sindh, and Dr. Zulfiqar Gillani, Vice Chancellor
of the University of Peshawar - all three being members of the Committee.
The Committee also appointed Dr. Tariq Banuri as Member / Secretary
to undertake and coordinate the background work necessary to produce
the final report.
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