EDITORIAL: Thanks to our decision-makers’ insatiable desire to control everything, too many public sector universities are being run by ad hoc appointees. At a recent meeting with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) the National Assembly’s Subcommittee on Education was informed that out of 32 universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 21 are functioning without regular Vice Chancellors. And the main reason for the inordinate delays in filling the vacant positions was an ongoing tussle between Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi.
A similar situation had arisen earlier this year in Punjab, where 25 universities lacked regular VCs. When finally the CM decided to make the necessary appointments, ignoring the procedural requirements she herself interviewed prospective candidates and sent a summary of her nominees to the Governor who, as chancellor rejected the same, saying some of those nominated had corruption charges against them, also raising objections to the process of appointments. He did not have the authority, though, to cancel out the CM’s choices.
Likewise, the KP CM could get his way, but seems unwilling to disrupt the present system of ad hoc appointments, believed to be influenced by political patronage and nepotism. According to HEC officials, compared to KP and Punjab, Sindh has a better performance record. Generally speaking, the critical role of vice chancellors in transforming universities remains largely neglected. In the appointments process more often than not, merit is overlooked to accommodate politically favourable candidates. It does not seem to matter if the absence of strong stewardship leads to deterioration of academic standards and the quality of research universities are expected to produce. It is about time those in authority realised that institution of higher learning play a decisive role in intellectual growth of individuals, and ultimately socio-economic progress of societies they belong to. Hopefully, better sense will prevail sooner rather than later, and VCs as well as academic staff of institutions of learning will be selected purely on merit. All involved must focus on improving academic standards of public sector universities, attended by an overwhelming majority of students. Only a competent leadership can help attain that goal. After all, leadership and learning are closely related.
It is good to note that the NA subcommittee has summoned all provincial secretaries concerned, HEC heads and other officials for the next round of deliberations. They have been asked to submit their respective provinces suggestions on the issue at hand. That is the easy part. The real challenge is to ensure appointments to leadership positions are made through a transparent process, free from politically motivated interventions. Adoption of best practices must become the top priority of all stakeholders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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