A short runway for new HEC chairman

Pakistan today has over 260 public and private universities and more than two million students enrolled in higher education, yet its gross enrolment ratio remains around 10–11%, well below regional peers. More concerning is that fewer than half of graduates secure relevant employment within a year of graduation.

On assuming charge as Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar inherits one of Pakistan’s most consequential institutions, expanding access to higher education, yet struggling to deliver strong outcomes.

Like many public institutions, Pakistan’s universities do not suffer from a lack of rules, they suffer from weak implementation

The opportunity before the new chairman is therefore not to introduce more policies, but to translate existing frameworks into outcomes. If the next three years are used to focus on a small number of enforceable reforms, HEC can generate visible, measurable impact, both for students and for the country’s economy.

1. Governance and accountability

Like many public institutions, Pakistan’s universities do not suffer from a lack of rules, they suffer from weak implementation. Senior leadership often operates without clear performance benchmarks, and institutional underperformance rarely carries consequences. The result is stalled projects and historically allocated funding that rewards continuity rather than results.

Also read: Piles of degrees can’t end Pakistan’s skill deficit plague

A practical starting point would be performance-based governance. HEC can require vice chancellors and registrars to sign annual performance compacts with clearly defined targets covering accreditation progress, faculty hiring timelines, financial discipline, student services, and graduate outcomes. These compacts should be publicly tracked through a simple, quarterly updated HEC dashboard.

Currently, less than 15-20% of public higher education funding is linked to performance or outcomes. Even reallocating a modest 10-15% of development funding on a competitive or performance-linked basis would send a strong signal that delivery matters. Within three years, this approach could significantly reduce symbolic compliance and replace it with a culture of execution.

2. Making quality assurance real, not ritualistic

Quality assurance in Pakistan too often remains procedural rather than transformative. Reports are prepared and visits conducted, food enjoyed, yet weak programmes continue to operate year after year. In several high-enrolment disciplines, less than 40% of undergraduate programmes are fully accredited, meaning tens of thousands of students graduate annually from programmes without external quality validation.

Examination integrity and plagiarism controls must be standardised and enforced consistently.

HEC’s focus should be narrow and timebound. High-enrolment programmes such as business, computer science, information technology, education, and applied sciences should be prioritised. A clear national timeline must be announced. Programmes that do not enter the accreditation pipeline within a defined period should not admit new students.

Alongside accreditation, learning outcomes must be made explicit and public. Every undergraduate programme should publish its learning outcomes, assessment methods, and external examiner processes. Examination integrity and plagiarism controls must be standardised and enforced consistently.

3. Putting employability at the centre of higher education

Perhaps the most damaging disconnect in Pakistan’s higher education system is between universities and the industry. Youth unemployment remains extremely high, while employer surveys consistently report that over 60% of graduates lack job-ready skills, particularly in communication, problem solving and applied technical competencies. At the same time, fewer than one third of undergraduate students complete structured internships as part of their degrees.

HEC can address this gap by rolling out a standard national framework for Graduate Employment Cells in phases. These cells should track graduate outcomes, facilitate internships, engage employers, and provide structured career support. Universities should be required to publish basic graduate employment statistics annually.

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Work-integrated learning, internships, industry projects, and supervised fieldwork, including remote options should carry academic credit across a significant share of undergraduate programmes. Microcredentials and short courses that build market-relevant skills should be embedded within the modules/courses.

4. Refocusing research on national and economic impact

Pakistan’s research ecosystem operates under severe financial constraints. The country spends around 0.16% to 0.2% of GDP (gross domestic product) on research and development, compared to over 2% in many emerging economies. In such a context, spreading limited funds thinly across numerous projects produces little impact.

The solution is that HEC should prioritise small, competitive, and fast-disbursing research grants focused on national priorities such as water, agriculture, energy efficiency, climate resilience, and applied digital solutions. International experience shows that small, competitive grants often outperform large, slow-moving projects in generating usable outcomes.

Poor education outcomes directly translate into lower productivity, higher unemployment and slower growth.

Universities should also be supported through shared or regional technology transfer offices to commercialise research outputs. Publicly funded research must demonstrate public value whether through policy impact, prototypes, industry collaboration or social benefit.

5. Investing in faculty quality and teaching excellence

No education reform can succeed without capable and motivated delivery team. Yet a majority of university teachers have never received formal training in modern pedagogy or assessment methods.

A phased national teaching certification for faculty, mandatory for everyone, would significantly strengthen teaching quality. HEC should define minimum standards for all courses to ensure consistency, transparency, and resilience. Small, merit-based grants for course redesign and improvement can further reinforce quality. Good teaching remains the strongest multiplier in higher education.

Education reform is not a social expense, it is an economic investment. With over two million young Pakistanis entering the labour market each year, poor education outcomes directly translate into lower productivity, higher unemployment, and slower growth. Evidence suggests that even a 1% improvement in workforce skills can raise long-term GDP growth meaningfully through higher productivity and innovation.

Also read: What we are failing to teach our next generation

Aligning education with employability, research impact, and teaching quality can therefore yield significant financial returns, through higher graduate earnings, stronger industry competitiveness, and reduced underemployment.

The temptation for any new HEC leadership might be to announce multiple initiatives and ambitious visions. Pakistan’s experience suggests that this approach leads to fragmentation and fatigue. The opportunity before Prof Dr Niaz Ahmed Akhtar is to focus on a small number of enforceable reforms and make outcomes visible.

If, over the next couple of years, the HEC under his leadership can institutionalise performance-based governance, enforce programme quality, align education with employment, refocus research on impact, and strengthen teaching capability, it will represent a meaningful step toward a higher education system that serves both students and the economy.