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;
(c)
“Chief Operating Officer” means the Chief
Operating Officer 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 subsection (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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