Recruitment process: Sindh varsities inch closer to getting VCs

CM calls candidates for interviews for the top post at Karachi University and Sindh University

KARACHI: Chief Minister has completed the process of appointing vice-chancellors (VC) of two Sindh varsities, following Sindh High Court (SHC) Hyderabad bench orders to ensure permanent appointments within a month.

On Thursday, Murad Ali Shah called the top three candidates from the University of Karachi (KU) and Sindh University (SU) for final interviews at CM House. Shah was accompanied by universities and board secretary Navid Ahmed Shaikh. Currently, this position at the two universities and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) are headed by acting VCs.

After the interviews, the CM will send a summary to Sindh Governor Justice (retd) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, who is also the chancellor of all public universities, to issue a notification for the appointments. Both the universities will be getting a new VC after almost one year.

From KU, Prof Dr Khalid Iraqi, Prof Dr Fateh Burfat and Prof Dr Muhammad Ajmal were called for interviews while, from SU, Prof Dr Fateh Burfat, Prof Dr Abdullah Dayo and Prof Dr Muhammad Siddique Kalhoro were called.



“The procedure from advertisement of the post till the applications, shortlisting, interviews, and appointment usually takes around four months,” said a member of the search committee, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui. The committee sends the three top candidates to the CM and Governor.

Karachi University

Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser took charge as VC of KU on February 10, 2012, and continued to serve until February 9, 2016. However, he was appointed as acting VC until a replacement was appointed.

CM House advertised the vacant position on January 27, 2016, after which the candidates were shortlisted and interviews were conducted in August, 2016.

Sindh University

The VC seat at SU fell vacant after the death of Prof Dr Abida Taherani on June 1, 2016, in a London hospital. Since then, Kalhoro - who is one of the candidates interviewed for the position - was filling in as the acting VC. The government advertised the post in July, 2016, but the process of setting up a search committee to interview and shortlist the applicants was delayed.

Dow University

Apart from KU and SU, the province’s largest medical university, DUHS, is also awaiting a new and permanent VC since September 2015.

The SHC’s December 29 order to the provincial government also included DUHS but the Sindh CM has yet to interview candidates for this position.

DUHS which is awaiting for a permanent VC since September 15, 2015, when the now acting VC of the varsity, Prof Dr Masood Hameed Khan, completed his tenure for the second time, according to the Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Act 2014. The law states that the VC is appointed by the government for a period of four years, which may be extended for one more term on such terms and conditions as the government may determine.

The matter of the appointment of DUHS VC was taken to the judiciary when Prof Dr Noshad A Shaikh was appointed as out of turn by the then governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan against the orders of the then Sindh CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

Prof Dr Saeed Qureshi, who was at the top of the list of recommended VCs by the search committee, was not considered for the post. At that time, the Pakistan Medical Association also filed a petition and won the case, yet Dr Khan was appointed acting VC.

“The condition of education in the city is deteriorating while the officials have no priority for education,” complained Pakistan Medical Association’s general secretary Qaiser Sajjad. Since a long time, the largest medical institute does not have a permanent head, which is a clear indication of the kind of medical professionals the city is producing and how serious the government is about health and education issues, he remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2017.