ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed Secretary of Education, Nadeem Mahbub, as the acting Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) following the expiry of Dr Mukhtar Ahmed’s term.
According to an official notification from the Ministry of Education, Mahbub’s appointment has been made under sub-clause 3 of Section 8 of the HEC Ordinance 2002. He will hold the position for three months or until a permanent chairman is appointed—whichever comes first. He will also continue to serve as Secretary of Education alongside this new responsibility.
Nadeem Mahbub is already a member of the HEC Commission, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made the decision to assign him this additional role as the controlling authority of the commission.
Sources confirmed that Dr Mukhtar Ahmed made several last-minute appointments and transfers before officially stepping down. Mahbub is expected to take charge immediately.
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To find a permanent replacement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier approved an eight-member search committee on June 12, which was officially notified on June 17. The committee is headed by Federal Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and includes Minister of State Wajiha Qamar, Special Investment Facilitation Council Secretary Jahanzeb Khan, and senior academics such as Dr Anjum Halai and Dr Muhammad Nasir Qureshi.
Meanwhile, in a separate development earlier this year, the HEC terminated its Executive Director Dr Ziaul Qayyum, replacing him with Dr Mazhar Saeed on an acting basis. However, a local court later suspended the termination order, leading to a legal dispute as Qayyum was barred from resuming charge.
Dr Mukhtar Ahmed has had a long association with the Higher Education Commission (HEC), having previously served as both a member and the Executive Director before being appointed as Chairman in 2014. His initial four-year term ended in 2018. He was reappointed in 2022 for another two-year term, which was later extended by one year, ending on July 30, 2025.
In 2024, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal expressed serious concerns over the state of higher education in Pakistan. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he urged for a complete overhaul of HEC leadership, advocating for a team with bold vision and relevant experience to address the sector’s mounting challenges. He emphasized the urgent need to cater to Pakistan’s growing youth population by improving education quality, healthcare, and skills development.
