Sir, It is the constitutional responsibility of the State to regulate and ensure, without any fear or favor, that quality education and health services are offered to all citizens at an affordable cost. When the State fails to perform its constitutional regulatory functions, institutions collapse and the nation suffers. Foundations of a modern state are built on rule of laws, importance of education and the constitution and not whims of individuals. This is what Quaid-e-Azam stressed upon in his 11 August 1947 address to the First Constituent Assembly. Rules and regulations need to be enforced through the writ of state. People pay taxes to the state to put in place regulatory institutions like the Higher Education Department to ensure that laws are followed in letter and spirit. Vice Chancellors are appointed on merit with a syndicate and a Chancellor who in our country also happens to be the Governor of the province where the education institution is located. Unfortunately, when the Chancellor, who is supposed to be the guardian with responsibility to ensure that all private and government universities adhere to laws, becomes the instrument of violating that trust, then education suffers and so does the state. The media has reported that the Chancellor in Punjab has given approval in principle to an illegal sub-campus of a Lahore based private university in Pakpattan. This is despite HED having declared 23 sub-campuses of 6 private universities as illegal on January 10, 2020. Education should never be allowed to become a business venture, nor should cartels be allowed to emerge which exert pressures to mold and bend laws, compromise educational standards to achieve commercial targets.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
