KARACHI: The Sindh University that has been struggling to function without a permanent head for around six months, is likely to have a new vice-chancellor in a month, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The administrative vacuum continues to mar the functioning of the biggest public-sector university of the province since June, when the Sindh High Court threw away the plea of the 80-year-old former vice-chancellor, Dr Nazeer Ahmed Mughul. He was seeking to continue his third term - a two-year service extension awarded by the Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan - in the face of Sindh Universities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2013 that prohibits more than two terms to a vice chancellor.
In order to fill in the top-slot, the four-member search committee formed by the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah for appointment of vice-chancellors at public-sector universities had started its proceedings on November 15, after stalling for around five months after the court's decision.
With a deadline of November 30, the committee invited applications from individuals having a PhD degree, provided that they should not be more than 65 years of age and should not have completed two tenures on this particular post. As a result, around 67 candidates are set to vie for the coveted post.
The selection process will be governed by lawmaker Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, who is also the sister of Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Zardari, Dr Asim Hussain, one of Zardari's close friends, Prof Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, a retired bureaucrat and former vice-chancellor of the Sindh University, and Syed Mumtaz Shah, chief minister's secretary for universities and education boards.
"In the next stage, the committee, after scrutinising the applications to determine whether they meet minimum benchmarks set for this position or not, will invite the shortlisted candidates for interviews in the first week of January," search committee member Syed Mumtaz Shah told The Express Tribune."
After the interviews, the names of the three most suitable candidates will be sent to the chief minister who in turn will make the final selection and send a recommendation to Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan for the candidate's appointment."
According to sources, the front-runners for the position include Dr Parveen Shah, the vice-chancellor of Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Dr Anwar Ali Shah, pro-vice-chancellor of the university's Dadu campus, Dr Muhammad Siddique Kalhoro, pro-vice-chancellor of Badin campus, Dr Sarfraz Hussain Solangi, pro-vice-chancellor of Thatta campus, Dr Parveen Munshi, dean of education faculty and Dr Parvez Ahmed Pathan, the dean of the social sciences department.
Faculty members at the university, however, fear that the Sindh government might prefer to induct an influential bureaucrat to the post - a decision they vow to oppose by all means. "The university is a seat of higher learning and not some district council that could be handed over to a bureaucrat," said Dr Arfana Mallah, associate professor at the university's Dr MA Kazi Institute of Chemistry.
Administrative woes
"We have come to a situation when the university has to seek around Rs120 million bank loans each month to pay the employees' salaries," said Dr Mallah. "This whole mess of affairs is due to 'ad-hocism' that prevails in all spheres at the top, including the functionaries who virtually run a university - the vice chancellor and the registrar."
Presently, the pro-vice-chancellor of the university's Mirpurkhas campus, Dr Imdad Ali Ismaili, has a look-after charge of the vice-chancellor's office and Ghulam Muhammad Bhutto is the acting registrar.
For Dr Ayaz Keerio, president of the Sindh University Teachers' Association, the institution is failing to function because several affairs, including financial management, bilateral academic and research agreements as well as development, could not be administered by the individuals on provisional appointments.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.
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