LAHORE: Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) ViceChancellor Prof Dr Sohail Naqvi suggests that provincial higher education commissions first focus on the college education, which needs support for being a neglected sector.

`A timeline should be set where commissions should focus on college education first as that is the neglected sector and needs support to have a direct impact on the economy,` he told Dawn.

Dr Naqvi said the 18th amendment had laid out framework for devolution.

He highlighted anomalies, saying the federal Higher Education Commission (HEC) was still intact.

`The reality is that the HEC in Islamabad is functioning pretty much the same as it always did and it has all the funding. The provincial commissions don`t have funding and the capacity to deliver. As the capacities build up, get the Counsel of Common Interest to come up with a methodology,` he said.

Dr Naqvi said first and foremost one, the country had not made education its top priority.

So there is need to take a decision at the very top level.

`If Tony Blair can say that education is his first, second and third priority in the UK, then certainly a country like Pakistan should be doing that,` he went on.

`And we`ve even seen in over the past decade what has been happening in Vietnam. It is right there for us to see when you spend eight percent of your gross domestic product on education then what kind of transformation can occur in the country.

He said English was an important language and they could certainly learn it but core education at the primary level had to be in the mother tongue.

He said there should be uniform curriculum in the country. The country, however, has so many systems meaning that there is a confusion on this issue.

`One is madrassa-based education system which is a mixture of Greek type of education mixed with so called religious education.

The latest darling education system is the international baccalaureate,` he said and added: `We are not investing in educational sector, as it is most of the time revolving around 2 percent of the GDP.

He said there was a misconception in people`s mind that LUMS was an elite institution.

`But the reality is far beyond this perception.

The fact is the admission here is need blind. We actually don`t consider a candidate`s financial aid application until their admission on merit is done,` he said.

He said LUMS students would often work with local schools and remote schools.