The Higher Education Commission (HEC) hosted a meeting of Vice Chancellors to review progress on higher education sector projects approved and funded under Public Sector Development Fund (PSDP) during the last five years. The meeting also deliberated on the plans for the next PSDP projects.
Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform chaired the meeting. Dr Arshad Ali, Executive Director, HEC, Dr G Ghulam Raza Bhatti, Member Operation and Planning, HEC, and as many as 35 Vice Chancellors from across the country, in person and through HEC video conferencing facility, attended the meeting, said a press release issued here on Tuesday.
Addressing the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal appreciated HEC and academic fraternity for a good teamwork for the uplift of higher education sector in the country. "The country's future lies in knowledge-based economy," he observed. He said the Government believes in turning the country into a knowledge-based economy by investing in the higher education sector.
He strongly advised the universities to prepare quality PC-Is of their projects and submit them in due timeframe so that they may be approved for implementation. Serious efforts need to be made to ensure quality of PC-Is, as compromise on quality of PC-Is leads to failure in project approval, he underscored. Expressing concerns about serious capacity constraints, he stressed the need for proper project management.
In the budget for FY 2018-19, 46 development projects have been unapproved, he informed. The Minister stressed the importance of good management for execution of projects after due approval. He said the government approved a total of 130 projects for various regions of the country during the last five years, adding that the sector has witnessed a remarkable increase in its development budget in this period.-PR
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