For flood-related rehabilitation works: 14 varsities in KP, Sindh, Balochistan likely to get Rs1.6bn

ISLAMABAD: The steering committee of the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project has proposed allocation of Rs1.6 billion to 14 universities and institutions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Sindh for rehabilitation works in view of the damages they sustained in recent floods.

The Higher Education Commission’s HEDP project held sixth meeting of its steering committee here on Thursday. The committee is the highest forum of the project and it comprises senior officials from federal ministries, provincial higher education departments, vice chancellors, and private sector representatives.

The HEDP is a five-year national project (2019-20 to 2023-24) implemented by the HEC to expand upon its key higher education priorities. The committee members reviewed the progress made so far on the project. Dr Shaista Sohail, the executive director of HEC, chaired the meeting.

On the occasion, she said: “Like every project, this project also has yearly financial and physical targets. At the end of every year in June, all the project deliverables are checked and validated. These evaluation reports are then shared with the World Bank to make financial disbursements to the government of Pakistan for the project. I am glad that despite the financial, hiring and leadership challenges, the project as of today still stands (with) good financial and physical progress.”

Project Coordinator Prof Dr Mehmoodul Hassan Butt gave an overview of the HEDP project, its history, progress, future plans, and recently recruited staff. He briefed the committee on the key project initiatives, including the physical and financial progress on all the 11 project indicators termed Performance-Based Conditions (PBCs).

The meeting was apprised that the project is being restructured to support flood-related rehabilitation works in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and a sum of Rs1.6 billion will be allocated to 14 worst-affected universities/ institutions of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.

Technical heads of the project components updated members on the progress on each of the six components of the scheme, including 44 research grants awarded this year. In addition, 15 Innovator Seed Funding (ISF) grants are also given to startups which are now being incubated in ORICs around Pakistan.

The HEDP is also in the process of finalising MOUs for the establishment of Quality Enhancement Cells in Affiliated Colleges (QECACs) of 22 universities. In addition, the new Undergraduate Education Policy (UEP) has now been finalised incorporating the feedback from all the vice chancellors across Pakistan.

The faculty members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have already been trained on new UEP implementation while the plans for other provinces/regions will be rolled out very soon. The IT component head of the project briefed members on the expansion of the Pakistan Education Research Network (PERN) to another 71 HEIs, the development of the national MOOCs platform PakistanEdX and the launch of Enterprise Resource Systems for 25 HEIs.

Bids have been reviewed and a final decision will be made in January 2023. Procurement processes for several national IT initiatives are also underway.

The committee members appreciated the efforts of the HEDP team and provided valuable suggestions. Lack of public funding for the higher education sector of Pakistan was discussed at length and allied mitigation strategies for revenue generation models and financial autonomy were proposed accordingly.

The members also explained the grim situation prevailing in higher education institutions, especially affiliated colleges (ACs). They also suggested customising project activities based on regional needs and improving coordination between HEC and provincial departments for the national rollout of activities.

In her closing remarks, Dr Shaista Sohail said that the flow of funding to HEC remains a challenge and she is personally working with various relevant ministries to resolve the challenges.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022