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| April 14, 2006 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 15, 1427 |
Illegal varsities in abundance, NA told
ISLAMABAD, April 13: About one hundred and fifty universities are illegally operating in the country.
Federal Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi in a written reply told the National Assembly on Thursday that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) had identified 150 universities and institutions that were operating unlawfully throughout the country.
He passed on the responsibility for closure of these universities to the provincial governments.
“The legal authority to close down illegal institutions in provinces rests with the provincial governments,” the minister said, adding that the provinces had been requested to take steps for closure of these institutions.
The HEC had time and again notified these illegal institutions but they continue to operate. The minister’s statement prima facie looks to be a confession that the provincial governments weren’t doing enough to get rid of this menace.
The HEC on its own initiated action to close down three institutions in the federal capital territory. These were: American International University, Boston University and Nicon College of Computer Sciences.
In reply to another question, Gen Qazi ruled out the possibility of reducing the fees of public sector universities.
Out of the nine federal public sector universities, four raised their tuition fees by 10-12 percent, while Quaid-i-Azam University also enhanced its admission fee by 10 percent.
The minister said any reduction in the fees of the public sector universities was unfeasible.
“If reduction is made the entire budgetary requirements of the universities would have to be borne by the government which is then obviously linked to the strength of economy and policies and priorities of the government.”
Meanwhile, Gen Qazi told the house that there were five professors of nuclear physics in the country — four in the federal capital and one in Sindh.
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