ISLAMABAD: The government has removed Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairperson Tariq Banuri from the top post with an immediate effect.
Dr Banuri was appointed as the chief of the commission in 2018 by then prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government. His tenure was supposed to end in May 2022. However, in a notification that the Cabinet Secretariat announced his removal today.
“In terms of sub-section (5), read with sub-section (5A), of Section 6 of Higher Education Commission Ordinance, 2002, as amended vide Higher Education Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, Dr. Tariq Danuri has ceased to be the Chairperson, Higher Education Commission forthwith and is accordingly removed from the said post, with immediate effect,” stated a notification issued by cabinet secretariat.
According to the new HEC ordinance, the tenure of the HEC chief is being reduced to two years. The ordinance also transfers the authority to a government-appointed executive director, curtailing the autonomy of the higher education body formed in 2002.
Dr Banuri holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University and an MA in Development Economics from Williams College. He is an author of at least 20 books and 30 research papers.
