KP to establish independent, autonomous PHEC: Mushtaq

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Higher Education, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani Wednesday told the provincial assembly that the government is going to establish an independent and autonomous Provincial Higher Education Council (PHEC) to look after the affairs of the public sector universities in the province.

He was responding to a question of the Mufti Fazal Ghafoor of JUI-F regarding the quality of education in the public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Through his question, Maulana Fazal Ghafoor have asked that the ranking of the universities is on decline, saying that in the ranking announced in 2006, University of Peshawar (UoP) was fourth among the universities of the country while in 2014 it decline to number six while in the recent ranking it had went down to No.13.

The opposition legislator lamented that on one hand the standard of education in the universities is deteriorating while on the other hand difference between the fees of public and private sector universities is closing to each other.

However, the provincial minister instead of accepting responsibility of the situation held the administration of universities responsible for it.

Mushtaq Ghani said that as the public sector universities are getting funds through Higher Education Commission (HEC) and are responsible only to it. Therefore, he said the provincial government has decided the establishment of Provincial Higher Education Council.

He said that after the establishment the provincial government will provide funds to universities through it and will also be responsible for the financial and quality audit.

Similarly, in response to the question of Meraj Hamayun Khan, the provincial minister for higher education said that that four-year BS Programme has been introduced in 100 colleges of the province and would be extended to the remaining 120 colleges next year.