HASSAN ABBAS

LAHORE: Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Mukhtar Ahmad said on Thursday that he has presented a plan before Planning Commission of Pakistan to establish technical training institutes on the route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He was talking to group of journalist in Lahore. He said according to the plan, technical institutes will be constructed in relevant fields. “For example on the route of CPEC where we need coal technology experts, we will construct coal technology institute,” he opined.

Dr Mukhtar said those institutes who are not imparting quality education will be shut. He also said that he will not compromise on quality. He said with the funds of few billion rupees it is difficult for the universities to achieve high rankings. HEC chief said we are constructing more universities in Sindh other than Hyderabad University.

Chairman HEC said that since its establishment, HEC has achieved many land marks. He said commission was established in 2001 and according to the data, there were 59 universities in 2002. In 2017, there are 188 universities. In 2002, 0.26 million students were enrolled and in 2017, 1.348 million students are enrolled in the universities. Female enrolment in 2002 was 32 percent and in 2017, female enrollment is 48 percent. In 2002, there were 3,110 PhDs and in 2017, there are 11,960 PhDs, said Dr Mukhtar Ahmed.

Mukhtar said government has injected Rs 350 billion in Public sector universities and their focus is on human resource. HEC has granted 251,000 scholarships to the students in fifteen years.