Tug of war over VC slot spills into Swat University’s affairs
Several issues faced by students, faculty remain unresolved
PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
An internal tussle for the hot seat at the newly established University of Swat (UoS) has brought to a halt all developmental work at the varsity.
The crisis comes as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has asked the varsity to return unutilized developmental funds to the tune of Rs127.485 million.
UoS, set up in 2010, has been working under an acting vice chancellor, assistant registrar Dr Hassan Sher for the last five months after his predecessor Dr Jehan Bakht left for a similar post in Karak.
The tug of war over the vice chancellor, meanwhile, has swelled into a conflict between the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and K-P Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra with each trying to install their candidates on the post.
The K-P Higher Education Department (HED) had advertised the post for permanent vice chancellor in December 2016.
According to an official of the department who did not wish to be named, said that around 30 candidates vying for the post were called for interviews. The process finalised the names of Professor Dr Shafeeq and Professor Dr Jamal Khan.
The HED official added that Prof Dr Shafeeq was the pick for Khattak, while Prof Dr Jamal was the choice candidate for the K-P governor.
However, the HED has yet to appoint either of them to the vice chancellor hot seat since the department is confused over a final candidate. Meanwhile, Jhagra - who is the chancellor of the university by virtue of being the governor of the province, has directed the HED to notify UoS Additional Registrar Mehboobur Rahman as the acting vice-chancellor of UoS.
The department, though, bypassed the governor’s order and appointed Dr Sher as the acting vice chancellor of the university.
On August 31, the Rehman wrote a letter to Dr Sher stating that the latter was ‘misusing the status of the competent authority’, adding that he had been assigned the responsibilities of an additional registrar –Basic Pay Scale grade -19 – even though he was an assistant registrar - a BPS-17.
The additional registrar added that he had been appointed to the post after clearing the selection process and subsequent approval of the syndicate. Based on this, the official argued that he was the only one at the university who could be appointed as the acting vice chancellor under university rules.
A senior official at the varsity, who did not wish to be named for fear of fear of retribution, shared that on the ground, the tussle had caused several problems for students and faculty.
He said that the varsity had no hostel for either male or female student and faculty members. More critically, the varsity lacks adequate security arrangements.
The official added that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has recently asked the varsity to return development funds worth millions since they have lapsed amid the internal clash over key administrative posts.
Late last month, the commission wrote a letter to UoS noting that the Rs130 million it had released for the first phase of establishing the varsity had lapsed with the end of the fiscal year 2016-17.
The letter stated that a monitoring report of the project shows that Rs127.485 million meant for the project were not spent owing to lack of proper planning and management by the university.
While asking the varsity to return the money, the letter also warned that in case of non-compliance, HEC may adjust the amount in the upcoming instalment of the grant for the university.
However, UoS Public Relation Officer Aftab Ahmad told The Express Tribune that the varsity has replied to the HEC letter, clarifying that due to the absence of a permanent vice chancellor, they were facing difficulties in the utilising funds.
Ahmad said that the HEC has yet to reply to their letter but hoped that the funds would not be refunded.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2017.
An internal tussle for the hot seat at the newly established University of Swat (UoS) has brought to a halt all developmental work at the varsity.
The crisis comes as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has asked the varsity to return unutilized developmental funds to the tune of Rs127.485 million.
UoS, set up in 2010, has been working under an acting vice chancellor, assistant registrar Dr Hassan Sher for the last five months after his predecessor Dr Jehan Bakht left for a similar post in Karak.
The tug of war over the vice chancellor, meanwhile, has swelled into a conflict between the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and K-P Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra with each trying to install their candidates on the post.
The K-P Higher Education Department (HED) had advertised the post for permanent vice chancellor in December 2016.
According to an official of the department who did not wish to be named, said that around 30 candidates vying for the post were called for interviews. The process finalised the names of Professor Dr Shafeeq and Professor Dr Jamal Khan.
The HED official added that Prof Dr Shafeeq was the pick for Khattak, while Prof Dr Jamal was the choice candidate for the K-P governor.
However, the HED has yet to appoint either of them to the vice chancellor hot seat since the department is confused over a final candidate. Meanwhile, Jhagra - who is the chancellor of the university by virtue of being the governor of the province, has directed the HED to notify UoS Additional Registrar Mehboobur Rahman as the acting vice-chancellor of UoS.
The department, though, bypassed the governor’s order and appointed Dr Sher as the acting vice chancellor of the university.
On August 31, the Rehman wrote a letter to Dr Sher stating that the latter was ‘misusing the status of the competent authority’, adding that he had been assigned the responsibilities of an additional registrar –Basic Pay Scale grade -19 – even though he was an assistant registrar - a BPS-17.
The additional registrar added that he had been appointed to the post after clearing the selection process and subsequent approval of the syndicate. Based on this, the official argued that he was the only one at the university who could be appointed as the acting vice chancellor under university rules.
A senior official at the varsity, who did not wish to be named for fear of fear of retribution, shared that on the ground, the tussle had caused several problems for students and faculty.
He said that the varsity had no hostel for either male or female student and faculty members. More critically, the varsity lacks adequate security arrangements.
The official added that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has recently asked the varsity to return development funds worth millions since they have lapsed amid the internal clash over key administrative posts.
Late last month, the commission wrote a letter to UoS noting that the Rs130 million it had released for the first phase of establishing the varsity had lapsed with the end of the fiscal year 2016-17.
The letter stated that a monitoring report of the project shows that Rs127.485 million meant for the project were not spent owing to lack of proper planning and management by the university.
While asking the varsity to return the money, the letter also warned that in case of non-compliance, HEC may adjust the amount in the upcoming instalment of the grant for the university.
However, UoS Public Relation Officer Aftab Ahmad told The Express Tribune that the varsity has replied to the HEC letter, clarifying that due to the absence of a permanent vice chancellor, they were facing difficulties in the utilising funds.
Ahmad said that the HEC has yet to reply to their letter but hoped that the funds would not be refunded.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2017.