Government Forms Steering Committee on Higher Education
AKU President Appointed Chairman

President General Pervez Musharraf appointed Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President, AKU, as Chairman of the Steering Committee on Higher Education, in March 2002.

As Chairman, Dr. Kassim-Lakha has the status of a Minister of State and reports directly to the President of Pakistan on matters relating to the working of the Committee.

In accepting this responsibility, Dr. Kassim-Lakha observed that his appointment was a recognition of AKU’s achieve-ments and would enable the University to share its experience for the benefit of higher education across Pakistan.

The key functions of the Committee include the development of a plan to improve the quality of education of public universities through such measures as faculty development,  restructuring of the governance and management of public universities and improvement of their financial management and information systems, as well as the development of systemic linkages with other institutions, including industry in the private sector. Increasing the funding for higher education and building capacity for supporting education and research, including for science and technology, de-politicisation of campuses, and curriculum reforms are other priority objectives of the Committee.

The senior level Committee was formed by President Musharraf subsequent to receiving recommendations of the Task Force on the Improvement of Higher Education, established by the Ministry of Education, and the Study Group on Higher Education in Science and Technology by the Ministry of Science and Technology. The reports had earlier been accepted in principle by the government.

Appointed by the Federal Minister for Education, Zobaida Jalal, in April 2000, the Task Force was co-chaired by Dr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha and Syed Babar Ali, Pro-Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, and included, amongst other members, the Federal Secretary of Education, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, and eight vice chancellors of public universities and representatives of private universities. In developing its implementation plan to be submitted to President Musharraf by mid-August, the Steering Committee has already undertaken wide-ranging consultations with vice chancellors, faculty members and students as well as the governors and high officials of all four provinces.

Members of the Steering Committee include Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan; Dr. Abdul Hafiz Shaikh, Minister for Finance, Government of Sindh; Dr. Zulfiqar Gilani, Vice Chancellor, University of Peshawar; Dr. Mazhar-ul-Haque Siddiqui, Vice Chancellor, University of Sindh; Dr. Najma Najam, Vice Chancellor, Fatima Jinnah Women's University, Rawalpindi; Dr. Tariq Banuri, Senior Research Director, Stockholm Environment Institute, Boston Office; Prof. Riazuddin, Quaid-e-Azam University; Prof. Iqbal Chaudhry, HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University; Dr. Sohail Naqvi, Vice President, Enabling Technologies; Dr. Shaukat Hamid, Director General, Computer Control, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission; Dr. Waqar Masood Khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Federal Government; Ebrahim Sidat, Country Manager and Partner, Sidat, Hyder, Qamar & Company, Karachi; and Mr. Salman Akram Raja, Senior Partner, Raja Muhammad Akram & Company, Lahore.