ISLAMABAD: The government on Saturday removed Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman Dr Tariq Banuri.

The notification removing the HEC head was issued after the promulgation of a presidential ordinance.

Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman criticised the removal of the HEC chairman and asked the government to end ad hocism in the education sector.

“Tabahisarkar continues its demolition of institutions. An amendment to HEC law is awaiting approval of the prime minister. It will reduce the term of HEC chairman to two years and will also reduce its autonomy. The serving chair who refused to give in to pressure to act against the interest of HEC has been removed,” she tweeted.

Ms Rehman said the removal of the HEC chief was condemnable and against merit. She said the chairman had to continue serving till May 2022.

“However, he was removed by reducing his four years tenure to two years. The government has been continuously bulldozing institutions. The autonomy of HEC has been minimised and now higher education system is also being bulldozed,” she said.

Meanwhile, the National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) organised a research and project management course for the interim placement of fresh PhD fellows who have been awarded start-up research grants.

In order to fully prepare the fellows to run and manage their research projects over the long term, NAHE has collaborated with an international institution, Oxon Global, to provide top-tier training titled ‘The Fundamentals of Project Management’ to IPFP fellows.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2021