To address the critical financial, administrative, and educational challenges facing public universities, a collaborative conference titled Transforming Higher Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Strategies and Way Forward was held.
Organized by the Pakistan Development Foundation (PDF), Think Tank–Forum for Inquiry, Knowledge and Review (FIKR), Institute of Management Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU), and Women University Mardan (WUM), the event brought together educationists, stakeholders, and experts.
The conference provided a platform for discussing pressing issues and aimed at formulating actionable strategies to strengthen higher education in the region.
Participants exchanged insights on potential solutions to enhance financial stability, improve administrative efficiency, and elevate educational standards across universities.
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Dr. Muhammad Ali Saif, Prof. Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Prof. Dr. Safia Ahmed, Prof. Dr. Usman Ghani, Prof. Dr. Razia Sultana, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Rasul Jan, Engr. Prof. Dr. Attaullah Shah, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan, Engr Imtiaz Gilani, Prof. Dr. Shafiqur Rehman, Farah Hamid Khan, Retired Lt. Gen. Shaheen Mazher Mehmood, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, Fatima Shaheen and Nasir Shah expressed their views in the conference.
The principal organizer of the conference and Chairman PDF, Muhammad Bilal Sethi read the resolutions for the improvement of education on behalf of all stakeholders.
The resolution demanded that as a result of the 18th constitutional amendment, higher education has become a provincial subject instead of a federal one, so there is a need to establish a provincial Higher Education Commission in KP like Sindh and Punjab.
It is necessary to establish a Higher Education Endowment Fund to bring the universities out of the current all-round crisis and to build them up on a permanent basis for the future.
Examples of this type of endowment fund exist all over the world and historically their role is inevitable.
Similarly, higher educational institutions should be exempted from taxes. This exemption of taxes may be partial. Most of the government universities of KP lack permanent vice-chancellors.
In order to promote purposeful education and research, the policy makers of universities and higher education institutions changed the concept of impact factor to the concept of societal impact in order to create a close relationship between educational institutions and society.
Improvement of higher education should be the goal. Higher education should be linked with capability. Increase in skill or skills should be targeted. Graduates should be prepared according to the needs of the society so that it is possible to create a prosperous society by controlling unemployment. There is a severe lack of communication between the teacher and the student in the current system. is A systematic plan should be made to utilize the latent potentials of the students. There is a need to recognize students as the biggest stakeholders and prepare them to play an active role in the future.
Establishment of student societies, clubs or councils has become the need of the hour for educational institutions. Students should be considered for adequate representation in university bodies. The curriculum of our educational institutions is outdated.
There is a need to study the international trends and prepare a curriculum compatible with the contemporary requirements. The existing structure of BS should be reconsidered. The first two years of this program should be given to colleges and the remaining two years to universities.
A Higher Education Review Commission should be set up to conduct an academic audit of the education policies introduced after 2003 and carefully study these policies to see what goals have been achieved and where improvements are needed.
A review of these 20 years of education policies is the need of the hour. Linkages between universities should continue. Faculty and student exchanges as well as resource sharing between universities can help universities meet resource shortages. Facilitate the steps of starting joint projects with international partners so that there is no time lapse in the projects and maximum benefit to the students.
