HEC lacks proper record of PhD scholars it finances

ISLAMABAD: Since 2003, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has awarded over 10,962 indigenous and foreign scholarships for PhD interns, costing billions of rupees. However, the authority has no proper record of the current employment status of these students.

The HEC’s human resource development (HRD) division has been running the Indigenous and overseas scholarship programme. It processes students’ documents for higher studies abroad after scrutiny and holds interviews of candidates using a panel of the HEC’s partner agencies and foreign professors.

According to official figures, the HEC has spent Rs47.8 billion on the PhD scholars since the inception of both of its scholarship programmes. But it has no database about the status of all such graduates who, according to the agreement, are supposed to be serving in country for five years.
So far about 450 MPhil and PhD scholars have failed to complete the programmes the HEC funded for several years. However, the statistics and data provided by the HEC to The Express Tribune are self-contradictory and call for radical scrutiny of the whole process of award of precious scholarships.

The HEC confessed in an email that it had no data about unemployed (HEC-funded) PhD graduates but also maintained that the number of employed graduates was 10,000. This huge figure of unemployed PhD scholar also calls into question efficacy of the way the programmes are being run.

Sources in the HEC have confirmed that the body has no data at all about any of the graduates or scholars. “Frankly we do not have any such data but we have felt the need to get the database of all such graduates and their status as we have spent billions of rupees on them,” an official said.

Recently, the HEC held a Vision 2025 meeting where it discussed the plans to produce 38,000 new PhDs in the country. Critics cast aspersion on the process and mechanism – adopted for the past scholarships – and ask if it would continue unabated in future as well.

Indigenous scholarships

The HEC has awarded 8,587 indigenous scholarships between 2004-2017 and on an average Rs1.6 million to Rs1.9 million has been spent on each of these scholars. Interestingly, only 2,863 of them have so far completed their PhDs.

About 366 scholars failed to complete their degree while about 240 refunded the entire amount that was spent on them along with 25 per cent penalty. Similarly, about 126 cases have been lodged against those who are not replying to the notifications and reminders of the HEC.

When asked to explain the stark difference between award and completion of PhDs, the HEC spokesperson shared confused details and claimed that due to foreign research a PhD is completed in seven years.

Foreign scholarships

Since 2002, 2,375 scholars have completed their PhDs under overseas schemes and on an average the HEC spent Rs7.5 million on each student. A total Rs18 billion has been spent under the programme so far.

About scholars, 84 failed to complete PhD and 98 students did not return to Pakistan after completion of their PhDs. Interestingly, the HEC in October 2015 told the National Assembly that about 177 MPhil and PhD scholars of foreign programme failed to complete their studies.

However, a source in the HEC had told The Express Tribune that there are over 400 cases lodged against foreign and indigenous scholars. “The HEC shares a smaller figure to avoid embarrassment,” he said.

Source: The Express Tribune