Improving Higher Educational Management through Good Governance

Abstract

The study investigated dimensions of good governance in order to improve higher educational management in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.  The functions of the universities are to develop the people physically, mentally and spiritually. The purpose of higher education is to promote the economic, social, political and cultural life of a nation. The rapid economic, industrial and agricultural advancement of the developed nations is the outcome of their higher education institutions. Unlike its regional counterparts, the developmental indicators of Pakistan have not demonstrated positive results since its inception. According to the National Education Policy 2009, the participation rate of age group 18-23 at the level of higher education was 4.7% in 2008as compared to the advanced countries which are achieving more than 40 percent participation rate in higher education. There are problems of quality of staff, students, library and laboratory and issues of governance in Pakistan. The relevance of education with social needs, research facilities, budgetary allocations, examination system, governance and academic results of Pakistan in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular are not at par with international standards. Considering higher education to be the most important sector in development, the study was found significant and needed as research was scarce in this area. The objectives of the study included review of relevant literature and a description of different traditions, a search for best practices and identification of new dimensions for improvement of good governance of universities. The population of the study included all heads of institutions, teachers, administrators, planners, examination experts, and students of higher education in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The sample of the study was three universities purposively selected for the study. Sixty six heads of institutions, teachers, administrators, planners and examination experts and sixty students from all universities were included in the sample. The tools for collection of data were two questionnaires administered to the subjects. Both the questionnaires were refined after pilot testing. The data were collected personally. Based on the conclusions drawn a couple of recommendations were made for improvement, which suggested that the governance systems and institutions of higher education may be based on adequate inclusion of all relevant stakeholders, institutional autonomy may be granted for ensuring academic freedom, public authorities may establish and maintain an appropriate legislative framework to ensure institutional autonomy, merit may be the only consideration for enrollment in higher education, the grant for universities may be substantially increased and capacity of university staff and faculty may be developed.

Keywords: Good Governance, higher education, educational management, development indicators, participation rate and national education policy.