Abstract
Governance context is the holistic arena of perspectives where an entity operates. These perspectives not only influence the operations of the government but also affect the policy making and development initiatives. This conceptual paper discusses and maps the wider historical governance structure and culture of Pakistan’s public sector while using higher education as a case in point. The understanding of context helps in explaining the issues and challenges associated with policy development and implementation. Higher education is an important part of the government and plays a vital role towards the achievement of national goals in the era of knowledge economy driven socio-economic development, therefore, carefully crafted policies must be developed and implemented keeping in view the international best practices and domestic needs and resources. As Andrews (2008) points out the fact that policies and plans may not “replicate” rightly in various contexts, as the environment, challenges vary from culture to culture and if such an attempt is made, reforms “end up resembling proverbs that fit poorly in the wrong context and contradict one another” (Andrews, 2008, p.380). The paper discusses the establishment of Higher Education Commission (HEC), followed by devolution after making the amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan. Prior to the discussion of the developments in this sector, the script on the basis of literature and documentary analysis sheds light on the idea of evolution of broader governance systems in Pakistan, since its inception in 1947. The initial governance structure of Pakistan can be seen as having its traces in the British colonial era. However, over the years, governance systems in Pakistan evolved and the international best practices or trends that coincided the era of development administration, management and governance were also reflected in the governance system of the country in various sectors of the government (Jadoon et al. 2012).These classifications developed by Turner et al. (2015) very appropriately help in understanding the context in which different parts of the government operated. The paper argues that though following the international best practices is a good idea but to reap benefits of good governance, indigenized and local solutions are required (Jabeen (2006) and these could be understood only once the governance and historical context is known vividly. The paper elaborates that, a total 8 national five year plans (Jahangir, 2008) and 9 education policies (Khan, 2011) have been made since 1947 that in some way had implications for the higher education system. It discusses transition of the first higher education regulatory body i.e. University Grants Commission (UGC) to the present structure of HEC and more recently the Provincial Higher Education Commissions (PHECs). The paper concludes that the reform journey of higher education in Pakistan has not been a smooth ride, several challenges have been faced by various governments over time and hence the reforms and policies cannot be analyzed in isolation. The paper attempts to help researchers in understanding the broader context and historical perspective in which the governance system of Pakistan emerged and the system of higher education developed accordingly.