KARACHI: One hundred and fifty prominent members of civil society have sent an open letter to the prime minister, urging him to reverse his decision of removing the chairman of Higher Education Commission and “subjugating the HEC under the federal education ministry through hastily promulgated ordinances”.

In their letter, the eminent educationists, economists, jurists, diplomats and journalists put forth a total of eight reasons why the government’s decision should be withdrawn.

Firstly, they said, the position of HEC chairman is protected by statute. “The decision to dismantle this protection without any justification or exigency will send a signal to all future occupants of statutory positions that the commitment of the government of Pakistan has no worth,” the letter said. “This will greatly undermine the quality of governance in the country.”

The reduction of HEC chairman’s term from four to two years is a major decision, “which should have been taken on the basis of evidence as well as due deliberation in a responsible forum. The federal government has thus far provided no grounds for this reduction either in the cabinet papers or elsewhere”, said the letter.

“There is no publicly available research or analysis that suggests that shorter tenures for higher education regulators are more effective in serving the youth of a country. On the contrary, two years is too short a time for someone even to come to grips with the complexities of the Pakistani system of higher education, let alone provide effective leadership for change,” added the letter.

“Third, … if the federal government felt that a decision of such magnitude was warranted, it ought to have tabled the motion, along with the justification and the supportive evidence, in the parliament so that it could be subjected to due scrutiny and proper public debate. Adopting the subterfuge of an ordinance is hardly appropriate.”

According to the joint letter, the commission “has representation from the federal as well as provincial governments, and has succeeded in establishing a collaborative working relationship across all governments, … consistent with the dictates of the 18th Amendment. This success was validated recently at the CCI meeting on 7 April, 2021, which unanimously recognised HEC as the sole regulatory authority for higher education in Pakistan. The enactment of the HEC Amendment Ordinance 2021 will inevitably be perceived as an attempt by the federal government to reassert control over the HEC, and therefore as unconstitutional and confrontational.”

Prominent among the 150 eminent members of civil society who put their signatures on the letter are Syed Babar Ali, Shamsh Kassim Lakha, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Dr Qibla Ayaz, Javed Jabbar, Hina Jilani, Harris Khalique, Prof Adil Najam, Farhat Ullah Babar, Hussain Naqi, M. Ziauddin, Prof Kamran Asdar Ali, Dr Javed Ashraf, Prof Salima Hashmi, Amb Shahid Malik, Dr Zia Mian, Riaz H. Khokhar, Salman Akram Raja, Dr Tariq Rehman, and Nasir Zaidi.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2021