World Bank (WB) will provide $100 million for Pakistan Higher Education Support Programme (HESP) to enhance the skills of Pakistanis capable of contributing to an economy increasingly based on knowledge and technology, through an overhaul of the entire university sector.
HESP supports the completion of reforms undertaken by the government of Pakistan to increase equitable participation, enhance quality, relevance and strengthen the efficiency and sustainability of higher education with a view to sustaining momentum of the core reform programme.
According to WB's update project report, the HESP will contribute to the rehabilitation of the higher education sector by helping sustain momentum of the core programme and key accompanying reforms being undertaken by HEC through the current period of fiscal stress. HESP also supports the completion of upfront reforms in the areas where it is critical to signal a strong political will and to establish credibility of the reforms, vis à vis the academic community, the ministry of finance, and the private sector.
According to WB project report, the higher education sector in Pakistan, public and private universities and degree awarding institutes have been neglected for many years. Thus, the sector lacks the capacity to leverage the knowledge economy that the country aspires to become. Regardless of the indicator used, participation in higher education in Pakistan is low. Sector-wide governance issues are a pervasive impediment to the optimal functioning of universities.
Administrative responsibilities in public universities are not clearly defined. Performance is not rewarded, let alone measured. Accountability is also non-existent. The playing field of higher education is far from being even, public institutions are privileged and despite its growing quantitative importance, private provision of higher education services is not optimal.
Until the early 2000s, the university sector had been blatantly under-funded. The huge and unprecedented increase in the sector budget since 2002 has been accompanied by parallel growth in student enrolments. Therefore, in real per-student terms, the surge has been more modest, and with less than one-half of one percent of GDP spent on its universities, Pakistan continues to lag behind other comparable countries, WB report added.
Higher Education Commission (HEC) had launched a series of measures, which are encapsulated in the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF-HE), which covers the 2005-2010 period. They encompass all critical areas in urgent need of improvement including faculty development, access, learning and research, relevance, governance and management, quality enhancement and technological development.
The measures launched and those planned have the potential to redress the effects of the long period of neglect of Pakistani Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and transform them into engines of growth.
WB report mentioned that these measures can be categorised into four pillars. First improving the quality and relevance of teaching and research. Second broadening access to, and equity of, higher education. Third strengthening the governance and management and fourth increasing the fiscal sustainability and effectiveness of expenditure. The HEC's track record constitutes a good omen for the implementation of the MTDF-HE.
By attacking up-front the factors underlying the poor quality of HEIs including the lack of qualifications, accountability and motivation of faculty staff, HEC has started to address the root of the problems facing the sector. Bank support is critical in helping maintain implementation momentum of key reforms.
Science and technology universities remain the most important forum where research will take place. By supporting measures to encourage academic research, and to link it with industry, the HESP will contribute the renewal of research with higher quality standards and will help build the chain linking research and innovation.
WB report mentioned that the proposed programme will help to reinvigorate the whole sector, and the reforms supported through the operation will contribute to the long-term financial sustainability of HEIs. By supporting the Government's reforms to introduce accountability, transparent management and governance structures in universities.
The HESP is expected to have spill over effects outside of the higher education sector, thanks to the emergence of a new cohort of leaders trained in an improved governance environment. Similarly, the efforts to bring closer together the public and private sectors in providing quality teaching and research are expected to have long-term positive externalities, WB report added.