Karachi:
The amendment bill of the Higher Education Commission has sown a discord in the ruling coalition when President Asif Ali Zardari used his clot to avoid the bill, transferring the highest powers to the prime minister, of being presented in the session Joint of the parliaments held on Friday.
The bill proposed the transfer of the powers of the commission to the prime minister. These powers include the appointment of the Executive Director, the formation of the commission and the nomination of the Vice Chancellor in the Federal Commission. The bill recommended maximum powers of the HEC to Prime Minister.
The sources of the Chairman of the Chamber told The Express PAkGazette that the bill in question tried to defangular the powers of the Federal Education Commission.
According to the draft of the amendment bill, available with the Express PAkGazette, the power to appoint the Executive Director of the HRA will be granted to the prime minister, while the commission is autonomous according to the prevailing laws and only appoints the president of Hran and Few members of the Commission.
The bill also recommends reducing the number of commission members to 10. Of which four experts in education, experts and scientists will be nominated by the Prime Minister. The presidents of the provincials will also be the members of the Commission. It is pertinent to mention that the provincial commissions are only functional in Sindh and Punjab, which makes KP and Baluchistan deprived of representation in the commission.
In addition, the Commission will propose the names of three Vice Chancellor (VC), from public and private sector universities to Prime Minister and select one of both sectors.
At present, the VCs become part of the commission through a selection of their own committee, while the main ministers also nominate a VC in the commission.
