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Introduction:
Demands and challenges related to higher education and its management have increased in present times (Bargh et al., 1996; Saiti et al., 2018). Developed countries are putting concerted and specialized efforts to meet these growing challenges (Trakman, 2008). Developing countries, however, face more troubles in managing their higher education sector because of the limited resources and their improper utilization (Naviwala, 2016). Independently governed institutions and regulatory agencies are being formed to ensure effective utilization of resources and enhance consultative process with different stakeholders for improving higher education governance (Ali and Kassim-Lakha, 2002). It is observed that countries with centralized, multi-level and complex governance structures face more problems in management of their higher education sector (Ivancheva and Syndicus, 2019).
Presence of this centralized governance structure is one of the reasons why under developed countries like Pakistan are facing issues in management and governance of its higher education sector (Trakman, 2008). The governance and management related issues of higher education are also exacerbated by fragile democracy, inconsistency in policies of different governments and ad-hoc policy formulation and implementation (Gilani, 2015).
The severe political turmoil faced by Pakistan from the time of its inception and absence of long term planning has adversely affected the governance of different sectors (Hoodbhoy, 1998). This has also limited the policy formulation and implementation capacity of Pakistan regarding its higher education sector (Harvey, 2004).
Multiple policy level initiatives at the federal level have been taken by different governments of Pakistan in past (Riaz et al., 2017). The implementation of most of these policies faced different setbacks (Majoka and Khan, 2017). However, the situation showed considerable improvement particularly after the formation of Higher Education Commission (HEC) in 2002 which is responsible for introducing reform ideas, guidelines and multiple annual, mid - term and long term projects in order to develop the human capital and meet the modern day higher education related requirements (Gilani, 2015; Riaz et al., 2017).
History of Higher Education and its Governance in Pakistan:
The educational infrastructure at the time of independence of Pakistan was very fragile (Khan and Mahmood, 1997). Multiple education related reforms and policies failed or could not be effectively implemented due its unstable political system and inconsistent policies (Afzal and Ali, 2017). Education related reforms were...