ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has asked the federal education ministry to hand over centres of excellence to it for their better functioning, a well-placed source in the commission told Dawn.

The education ministry is running more than 10 centres of excellence and area study centres in various public-sector universities of the country.

The source said Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman had suggested the takeover in a presentation given to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz recently.

He said the HEC chairman was not happy with the working of these centres and was interested in bringing it on a par with international standards.

He (Dr Ata) also wants that the entire higher education sector of the country should be run under one policy without any duplication of administrative affairs.

Dr Rehman was also of the view that the education ministry should only look after the affairs of schools and colleges falling under the capital administration’s jurisdiction, while all the institutions dealing with higher education should be entrusted to the HEC.

If the proposal floated by the HEC chairman is accepted by the prime minister, the role of the education ministry would only be reduced to the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), an official of the education ministry on condition of anonymity said.

“It would be the second attempt by the HEC chairman to minimize the role of education ministry as far as the higher education sector is concerned,” he said.

Earlier, the federal education minister in his capacity as pro vice-chancellor of the federally administrated public-sector universities used to recommend the names of potential vice- chancellors.