EDITORIAL: University teachers’ associations have repeatedly been voicing concern over the absence of regular, effective leadership, but to no avail. In a fresh move, the All Public Universities Teachers Association (APUBTA) has approached the Supreme Court with a petition drawing attention to the sorry state of affairs prevailing in the public sector universities across the country.
A vast number of these institutions of higher learning – 32 out of 50 in Punjab, 24 out of 34 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six (the total count is not mentioned) in Sindh, and two in Baluchistan at present are functioning without tenured vice chancellors.
The SPUBTA seems not so wrong in seeing that as part of a de facto policy to “control” the universities through acting VCs. Endorsing this view, some point out that during the last year-and-a-half, caretaker governments had no hesitation in making appointment outside their purview, but showed no interest in this issue.
In February last, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, said that there are around 70 - he should have known the exact number - public sector universities requiring the appointment of VCs, and that the necessary hiring procedure for most of them has already been established.
However, he shifted the implementation responsibility to others, as he added the HEC is a facilitating organisation, and that the relevant committees and provincial governments have to handle the appointments on their own.
This highlights the fact that the problem is with the governance system. Meanwhile, the petition correctly contends that delay in appointments of legally tenured VCs affects the administrative structure of public sector universities since VCs play a key role in all the major decision-making bodies of these institutions.
Yet, ad hoc appointments are made not only to VCs post but also other important tenured positions, such as directors, deans and chairpersons of different departments. The result, of course, is a perceptible decline in the quality of education. This has gone on despite there being legislation in place, empowering universities to nurture a favourable environment for academic pursuits.
It is imperative therefore that the vacant positions are filled as soon as possible on the basis of merit in a transparent process. Only well-qualified candidates should be appointed to these positions with the express purpose to promote academic freedoms, making our public sector institutions of higher learning what they are meant to be: centres of unfettered learning. Needless to say, selection of the right people for the job can generate social capital essential for socio- economic progress of this country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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