ISLAMABAD: The National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan, has opened a three-day workshop titled “Strategic Planning and Leadership Excellence” to build the leadership and management capacity of senior officials of public sector universities.
The workshop, being held at the National Institute of Business and Finance (NIBAF), is aimed at helping university leaders respond more effectively to academic, administrative, governance and financial challenges faced by higher education institutions.
Vice Chancellors, Pro-Vice Chancellors, senior Deans and statutory heads from public sector universities of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), along with women universities from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Rawalpindi region, are attending the training.
Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Wajiha Qamar was the chief guest at the opening ceremony. NAHE Managing Director Dr Noor Amna Malik and her team were also present.
Speaking at the ceremony, Wajiha Qamar said university leaders had a key responsibility in shaping the future of higher education, promoting sustainable institutional development and advancing reforms in the sector.
She said Pakistan was blessed with abundant natural resources and universities must contribute to developing the knowledge, technology and skilled human capital needed to utilise these resources for national development.
The minister called for moving beyond conventional approaches and said graduates should be equipped with the skills and competencies required for self-reliance. She stressed stronger industry-academia linkages and said academic institutions should be more industry-driven, providing students with practical training and better employment prospects.
Wajiha Qamar said universities had a paramount responsibility to prepare young people for the modern world. She observed that changing global realities had reduced the relevance of certain academic disciplines. “Redundant disciplines need to be phased out and youth be equipped well to pace up with the world,” she said.
She urged participants to identify gaps openly and share their views on possible solutions. “Each one of you should rise and speak up about the challenges and their possible way out so that we may head towards the real solutions,” she said, assuring them of her continued support in a holistic manner.
In her opening remarks, Dr Noor Amna Malik said the workshop had been designed to provide university leaders with an opportunity to interact with experts and practitioners on critical issues confronting the higher education sector.
She said the first exclusive cohort of the Strategic Planning and Leadership Excellence workshop was held in December 2025 for the university leadership of Balochistan. The current cohort, she added, was dynamic and diverse, with representation from six universities of AJK, two universities of GB, and three universities each from KP and the Rawalpindi region.
Dr Malik highlighted the importance of universities as individual entities and said collective action was essential to address their challenges. “We need to make sure we hold one another’s hands to go forward together,” she said.
She also emphasised active participation by the attendees and expressed the hope that the workshop would prove to be a useful learning platform and encourage collaborative problem-solving.
The opening ceremony included an interactive discussion during which participants directly shared their views with the minister on issues being faced by higher education institutions.
The participants called for greater collaboration and resource sharing among universities while recognising the specific circumstances and challenges of individual institutions. They also highlighted the need for legislative reforms for university autonomy, the formulation of a national model university act and effective implementation of national policies.
They drew attention to stagnation in recurring grants for public sector universities and stressed enhanced public investment in higher education to support institutional sustainability and national socio-economic development. The discussion also focused on diversifying revenue streams and strengthening the financial sustainability of universities.
The minister assured the university leadership of her full support in addressing their pressing issues and concerns.
The workshop includes detailed sessions on Sustainability and Resource Mobilisation; Financial Management, Challenges and Potential Solutions; Vice Chancellors’ Playbook: Strategy, Stakeholders, and Sustainable Growth; Strategic Planning and University Governance Models; Standardisation in Performance Management; and Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: A Strategic Imperative for Pakistani Universities.
Senior officials and experts from different areas are serving as speakers and resource persons during the training.
According to HEC, the initiative reflects its continued efforts to strengthen leadership capacity in the higher education sector and support institutional development in AJK, GB and across the country through structured learning and professional development.
