NWFP Governor Lieutenant General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (Retd) has declared to constitute a committee comprising representatives of the teaching community of the public sector universities of the province to review and evaluate the University Ordinance and submit its findings to make it an acceptable document to all the stakeholders.
He was talking to a delegation comprising presidents and general secretaries of the elected bodies, representing teachers communities of all the public sector universities in Pakistan, which called on him under the leadership of Arbab Khan Afridi, President of the Peshawar University Teachers Association, here on Friday.
The governor said: "The ordinance is a much debated document and almost 14 amendments have been made during the last three years in it which itself is the depiction of the sincere desire of the government to make it practicable and purposeful.
Additional secretary to the governor Sikandar Qayyum and additional secretary Higher Education Mian Nasim-ul-Haq Kakakhel were also present on the occasion.
It is worth mentioning here that the representatives of the University Teachers Association are in Peshawar in connection with their annual meeting and they had a courtesy call on the governor.
Welcoming the stance of the teachers with regard to bring a change in the working and functioning of the universities, the governor said, "we would really appreciate a positive response and reaction of the teachers to bring further improvement in the draft and their point of view would definitely be advocated at the concerned forum, especially the Higher Education Commission."
However, expressing his views regarding the University Ordinance, the governor said, "I remained associated with it throughout its various phases and it has never been considered the last word during the process of consultations."
Though almost each and every tier of the stakeholders, he remarked, has been approached and consulted through their competent forums, yet efforts would also be made to provide another chance, especially to the teachers, to accommodate their point of view as well and hopefully it would bring a positive response.
APPREHENSIONS: Referring to the apprehensions expressed by the representatives of the teachers, the governor said, "it is perhaps due to lack of communication between various stages of the administrative system of the universities, which, he said, could be removed though consultation process at different levels."
However, the governor said, "let us focus on future and take concrete measures to enable ourselves to pace with the internationally recognised standards of education."
In this connection, he also mentioned the provision of in-built accountability system for each segment of the stakeholders in the ordinance and added, "it has really become need of the hour in the prevailing circumstances."
Talking about a point raised on this occasion by the representatives of teachers regarding the promotion of research activities, the governor made it clear that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has rightly examined the whole situation in light of the past shortcomings and has already come out with pragmatic and far-reaching result-oriented solutions, especially by setting aside huge amounts for the promotion of quality education in the universities.
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