KARACHI, March 18: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has appointed Dr Shamsh Kassim Lakha, President, Aga Khan University, as chairman of the Steering Committee on Higher Education.

As Chairman, Dr Kassim Lakha will have the status of a Minister of State and will report directly to the President of Pakistan on matters relating to the working of the committee, according to a press release issued by the Aga Khan University here on Monday.

The key functions of the committee included development of a plan to restructure the governance and management of public universities and improvement of the operations of universities, their financial management and information systems, as well as the development of systemic linkages with other institutions including industry in the private sector.

The committee is formed by the President subsequent to receiving recommendations of the Task Force on the Improvement of Higher Education established by the Ministry of Education and the study group on higher education in science and technology, the report of which had earlier been approved by the government.

The task force had been co-chaired by Dr Shamsh Kassim Lakha and Syed Babar Ali, Pro-Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, and had included, among other members, federal education secretary, the UGC chairman, and eight vice-chancellors of public universities and representatives of private universities.

Members of the steering committee include Dr Ishrat Hussain, Governor of State Bank, Dr Abdul Hafiz Shaikh, Sindh Finance Minister, Dr Zulfiqar Gilani, Vice-Chancellor, University of Peshawar, Dr Mazhar-ul-Haque Siddique, Vice-Chancellor, University of Sindh, Dr Najma Najam, Vice-Chancellor, Fatima Jinnah Women’s University, Rawalpindi, Dr Tariq Banuri, Prof Riazuddin, Quaid-i-Azam University, Prof Iqbal Chaudhry, Dr Sohail Naqvi, Vice President, Enabling Technologies, Dr Shaukat Hamid, Director General, Computer Control, PAEC, Dr Waqar Masood Khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Ebrahim Sidat, Country Manager, Sidat, Hyder, Qamar & Company, Karachi, and Salman Akram Raja, Senior Partner, Raja Mohammad Akram and Company, Lahore. —APP