[1]THE PUNJAB HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION ACT,
2014
( I of 2015)
[2nd
January, 2015]
AN
ACT
to provide for the
establishment of Punjab Higher Education Commission.
Whereas in the interest of improvement
and promotion of higher education, research and development, it is expedient to
provide for the establishment of the
Punjab Higher Education Commission
and for ancillary matters; It is enacted as follows:
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1.
Short
title, extent and commencement.– (1)
This Act may be cited as the Punjab Higher Education Commission Act, 2014.
(2)
It shall extend to whole of the Punjab.
(3)
It shall come into force at once.
2.
Definitions.–
In this Act:
(a)
“Accreditation Committee” means the Accreditation Committee
constituted under the Act;
(b)
“Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Commission;
(d)
“Commission” means
the Punjab Higher Education Commission;
(e)
“committee” means a committee constituted by the
Commission under Section 13;
(f)
“Controlling Authority” means the Controlling Authority
of the Commission specified in Section 3;
(g)
“governing body” means the Senate, Syndicate, Board of
Governors or any other governing body, by whichever name called, of a
university or institution;
(h)
“Government” means Government of the Punjab;
(i)
“higher education” means post 12th grade education
including bachelor’s or higher degree programmes, graduate and postgraduate
certificates, diplomas, and research and development activities in any area of
knowledge;
(j)
“Higher Education Commission” means the Higher
Education
Commission set up under the
Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002 ( LIII of 2002);
(k)
“institution” means any entity offering certificate, diploma
or degree in higher education including colleges, university or any other
degree awarding institute imparting higher education, established or
incorporated under any law of
the Punjab;
(l)
“member” means a member of the Commission;
(m)
“prescribed” means prescribed by statutes or
regulations made under the Act;
(n)
“regulations” mean the regulations made under the Act;
and (o) “statutes” means the statutes
made under the Act.
CHAPTER II
CONTROLLING
AUTHORITY AND COMMISSION
3.
Controlling
Authority.– (1) The Chief Minister Punjab shall be the
Controlling Authority of the
Commission.
(2)
The Controlling Authority shall supervise the affairs
of the Commission.
4.
Establishment
of the Commission.– (1) The Government shall, by notification in the
official Gazette, establish a Commission to be called Punjab Higher Education
Commission.
(2)
The Commission shall be a body corporate having
perpetual succession and a common seal with powers, subject to the provisions
of this Act, to acquire hold and dispose of property and shall, by the said
name, may sue or be sued.
(3)
The headquarters of the Commission shall be at Lahore
and it may set up its sub-offices at such place or places as it may deem fit.
5.
Appointment
of Chairperson.– (1) The Controlling Authority shall appoint a person of
eminence and proven ability, having at least a Ph.D degree or equivalent with
significant contribution to higher education as teacher, researcher or
administrator, as Chairperson on such terms and conditions as it may determine.
(2)
The Chairperson shall:
(a)
be appointed for a term of four years; and
(b)
not be eligible for re-appointment for more than two
terms.
(3)
The Chairperson shall be the chief executive officer of
the Commission and shall be responsible for all administrative, financial and
academic functions of the Commission.
6.
Composition
of the Commission.– (1) The Commission shall consist of the following:
(a)
Chairperson;
(b)
Secretary to the Government, Higher Education
Department; (c) Secretary to the
Government, Health Department; (d) Secretary to the Government, Agriculture
Department;
(e)
Secretary to the Government, Finance Department;
(f)
a nominee of Higher Education Commission not below the
rank of a whole time member of the Higher Education Commission;
(g)
Chairperson, Accreditation Committee;
(h)
one member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab
with excellent academic background and understanding of the higher education
sector to be nominated by the Speaker of the Assembly;
(i)
three Vice Chancellors of the universities including
one from a professional university and one from a
private sector university to be nominated by the Governor of the Punjab;
(j)
four eminent academicians, including at least one woman
and principal of a degree college to be nominated by the Controlling Authority;
and
(k)
two members representing industry and civil society to
be nominated by the Controlling Authority.
(2)
The Chief Operating Officer shall be the ex-officio
Secretary to the Commission.
(3)
The term of a member other than an ex-officio member
shall be four years and such a member shall not be eligible for re-appointment
for more than two terms.
(4)
The Chairperson or a member may not be removed from
office before the expiry of the term except on proven charges of corruption,
inefficiency, permanent disability or failure to attend three consecutive
meetings without intimation in advance.
7.
Honorarium
of the members.– The members shall be entitled to such honorarium and
allowances as may be prescribed.
8.
Resignation
and vacancies.– (1) The Chairperson or a member other than an ex officio
member may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Controlling Authority,
resign from his office.
(2)
Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the
Commission owing to death, removal or resignation shall be filled in accordance
with the provisions of this Act.
(3)
If the office of the Chairperson is vacant due to any cause, the Controlling Authority may
nominate any member of the Commission as Chairperson for a maximum period of
three months during which period the Controlling Authority shall appoint a
Chairperson.
9.
Meeting
of the Commission.– (1) A meeting of the Commission shall be held at least
four times in a financial year on such day, at such time and place as the
Chairperson may determine.
(2)
Six or more members may requisition a meeting of the
Commission and, in such an eventuality, the Chairperson or Secretary shall
summon the meeting of the Commission to be held within ten days from the date
of requisition.
(3)
The quorum for a meeting of the Commission shall be one
half of the total number of members, a fraction counted as one.
(4)
The Chairperson, or in his absence, a member elected by
the members present in the meeting, shall preside over the meeting of the
Commission.
(5)
All decisions of the Commission shall be expressed in
terms of the opinion of the majority of its members present and voting. In the
event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson or the member presiding the
meeting shall have an additional vote.
10. Powers and functions of the Commission.–
For purposes of promotion of higher education, research and development and for
bringing provincial higher education institutions at par with national and
international standards, the Commission may:
(a)
coordinate with Higher Education Commission in a result
oriented manner;
(b)
formulate guidelines and recommend policies in line
with national standards prepared by the Higher Education Commission under which
public and private institutions may be opened and operated in the Province;
(c)
prescribe guidelines and conditions under which
institutions, other than universities and degree awarding institutions, may
offer qualifications in the higher education sector;
(d)
cause monitoring and evaluation of the performance of
the institutions and carry out accreditation of institutions including their
sub-campuses, out posts, faculties, departments and disciplines through
Accreditation Committee;
(e)
provide guidelines to ensure good governance and
management of institutions to maintain high standards of higher education in
the Punjab;
(f)
assist and advise the Government in quality enhancement
and quality assurance of colleges;
(g)
cause third party performance audit of higher education
institutions and furnish a copy of the results to the concerned body for
corrective measures and follow up;
(h)
cause ranking of the higher education institutions of
the Punjab;
(i)
submit to the Government precise grant in aid
requirements of the
institutions;
(j)
allocate funds to
public sector institutions out of bulk financial provision received from
the Government and other sources for such purpose on performance and need
basis;
(k)
advise Institutions in raising funds from sources other
than the Government;
(l)
support in creating of linkages between institutions
and industry as well as national and international organizations that support
research and development in the higher education;
(m)
facilitate the introduction of educational and training
programs that meet the needs of the market and promote the study in every field
of
national and international
importance in the institutions;
(n)
ensure imparting marketable education and skills in the
institutions and promote self-employment through entrepreneurship and small and
medium enterprises;
(o)
advise institutions to ensure a proper balance between
teaching and research;
(p)
undertake various faculty development programs for
improving the
quality of teaching and research
in the institutions;
(q)
develop guidelines and facilitate the implementation of
a system of
quality assurance of
institutions, based on the standards developed by the Higher Education
Commission;
(r)
encourage, support and facilitate training programs,
workshops and symposia at provincial and regional levels in public and private
sector institutions;
(s)
prepare, in consultation with the institutions, plans
for the development of higher education;
(t)
promote formal links between institutions to make the
most effective use of expertize and specialized equipment and promote
provincial, national and international linkages with respect to knowledge
sharing, collaborative research, personnel exchange and cost sharing;
(u)
take measures, including allocation of funds, for award
of fellowships, scholarships, travel and research grants;
(v)
establish endowment funds for higher education with
contributions from the Government as well as non-governmental national and
international sources;
(w)
collect such information and statistics on higher education
and
institutions as it may deem fit;
(x)
set up various committees consisting of provincial,
national and international experts to advise the Commission on its affairs;
(y)
advise the institutions on framing of subordinate
legislation; and
(z)
perform such other functions as may be prescribed or as
may be incidental to the discharging of the above functions or as may be
assigned to it by the Government.
11. Secretariat of Commission.– (1) The Government shall appoint a Chief
Operating Officer, who shall, unless earlier removed on any grounds specified
in sub-section (4) of Section 6, hold office for a term of four years on such
terms and conditions as the Government may deem appropriate.
(2)
The Chief Operating Officer shall be the head of the
Secretariat and provide secretariat support to the Commission and the
Chairperson for various activities of the Commission.
(3)
The Secretariat shall act as the executive wing of the
Commission and be responsible for implementation of all the orders, decisions,
directives and policy of the Commission.
12. Accreditation Committee.– (1) The Government shall constitute an
Accreditation Committee including three members of the Commission as members of
the Committee.
(2)
The Accreditation Committee shall make recommendations
to the Commission in respect of the following matters:
(a)
grant of charter for the establishment of institutions
in the private sector;
(b)
addition of new faculties by the private sector
institutions;
(c)
opening of sub-campuses by the private sector
institutions;
(d)
grant of affiliation by the private sector
institutions;
(e)
monitoring, inspection and visitation into affairs of
the institutions; and
(f)
any other matter assigned to the Accreditation
Committee by the Commission.
(3)
The Commission shall, within thirty days from the
receipt of recommendations of the Accreditation Committee, forward the
recommendations to the Government alongwith its views, if any.
(4)
The Government shall, by notification, determine
composition, procedure, rules of business and other ancillary matters of the
Accreditation Committee.
13. Committees.– (1) The Commission may set
up such committees as may be required to effectively perform its functions.
(2)
The composition and functions of a committee shall be
such as the Commission may determine.
14. Recruitment of officers.– The Commission
may, from time to time, appoint or acquire services of such officers, staff, consultants and advisers as
it may consider necessary for the efficient performance of its functions on
such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.
15. Statutes.– The Commission may, by
notification in the official Gazette, make statutes for recruitment and other
conditions of service of its officers and employees.
16. Tripartite mobility.– (1) The Government may, in public
interest and on the recommendation of the Commission, place the services of any
officer or employee of the:
(a)
Commission at the disposal of any organization or
institution; or
(b)
Government or any other institution at the disposal of
the Commission.
(2)
The terms and conditions of service of officer or
employee under this Section shall not be less favourable than those enjoyed by
him immediately before his services are placed at the disposal of the
Commission, organization or institution, and full benefit of his previous
service shall continue to remain in force.
CHAPTER III
ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT
17. Account and reports of the Commission.–
(1) The Commission shall have a fund to which shall be credited all grants and
contributions made by the Government or any national or international
organization or by any person or authority and out of which shall be disbursed
the grants and other expenditure to be made and incurred by the Commission.
(2)
The accounts of the Commission shall be:
(a)
maintained in such form and manner as may be determined
by the Government; and
(b)
audited by Auditor General of Pakistan.
(3)
The Commission shall, after the end of every financial
year, submit to the Controlling Authority the audited annual statement of
accounts of the Commission, together with the report of the Auditor General of
Pakistan.
(4)
The Commission shall, within one month after the end of
every year, submit an annual report to the Controlling Authority on the state
of higher education in the Punjab and performance of the Commission during that
year.
CHAPTER IV
MISCELLANEOUS
18. Authentication of decision.– All decisions of the Commission shall
be authenticated by the signature of the Chairperson or of any other member
authorized by it in this behalf and all other orders or instruments issued or
executed by or on behalf of the Commission shall be authenticated by the
signature of an officer of the Commission authorized by it.
19. Representation of Commission.– Any law
providing for the establishment or incorporation of an institution shall have
effect as if it provided for the governing body of the institution consisting
of a nominee, not below the rank of a whole time member, of the Commission in
addition to the members of the governing body.
20. Delegation of functions.– (1) Subject
to sub-section (2), the Commission may, by general or special order and subject
to such conditions as it may deem fit to impose, delegate any of its functions
to the Chairperson, the Chief Operating Officer or any of its member under this
Act.
(2)
The Commission shall not delegate the following
functions:
(a)
making of statutes or regulations;
(b)
approval of annual and supplementary budget of the
Commission; (c) submission of report to
the Controlling Authority; and
(d) setting up and variation in the composition of a committee.
21. Public servants.– The Chairperson, members, officers, employees, consultants and
advisers of the Commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the
meaning of Section 21 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (XLV of 1860).
22. Act to override other laws.– The provisions of this Act shall have
effect notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law.
23. Regulations.– Subject to this Act and the statutes, the Commission may, by
notification in the official Gazette, make regulations to give effect to the
provisions of the Act.
24. Indemnity.– No suit or legal proceeding
shall lie against the Government, the Commission or any authority, officer or
employee of the Government or the Commission in respect of anything done in
good faith or purporting to have been, or intended to be done under this Act.
25. Transitory provisions.– The Controlling Authority may, on the
recommendation of the Chairperson, constitute a committee for a period not
exceeding six months to perform the function of the Commission till such time
the Commission is constituted under this Act.
26. Removal of difficulties.– If any difficulty arises as to give
effect to the provisions of this Act, the Controlling Authority may, on the
recommendation of the Chairperson, pass such orders as may be necessary to
remove such difficulty.
27. Repeal.- The Punjab Higher Education
Commission Ordinance, 2014 (XV of 2014)
is hereby repealed.
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