Academic woes: VCs decry politics at universities

Senate Standing Committee on Devolution discusses HEC’s alleged intervention in education institutions

ISLAMABAD: Vice chancellors (VCs) of several universities have decried politics at campuses and called for focusing on governance and academic quality in higher education institutes.

The VCs from eight universities shared their view with members of the Senate Standing Committee on Devolution. The panel was discussing a letter addressed to the Senate chairman for alleged intervention of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in universities, undermining their autonomy.



The VCs unanimously supported the HEC for being a quality and standards regulator. They told the senators that the letter was blowing things out of proportion and added that teachers’ unions were becoming a nuisance for the management.

In response, HEC chairperson Mukhtar Ahmed said “We respect [their] autonomy and the 18th amendment but there is no point of interfering in affairs of universities. Yes we do intervene, but when there are issues [like] academic quality not being met by higher education institutes.”

He said the degrees of several institutions were being issued like SIM cards, and the HEC had to stop it because it was causing national and international disgrace.

“Universities want to enjoy the luxury of autonomy but are reluctant to pay the price for it,” said the chairperson.

He talked about the minimum requirement for starting an academic programme and said the HEC had to shut down about 400 such programmes which were not meeting the criteria.

However, VC of the International Islamic University Islamabad Masoom Yasinzai said that the HEC was not interfering in the affairs of the universities, but was only keeping a check on their academic quality and standard.

“We had four academic programmes that were shut down by the HEC for failing to fulfill the required criteria, and they were only allowed after we removed those loopholes,” he said, suggesting that the HEC should work as a think tank for higher education sector.

Yasinzai opined that it was the internal politics of teachers that was harming the university the most.

Dr Javaid, head of the University of Balochistan, said it took a lot of effort to reorganise the universities that were affected by the law and order situation.

He pointed to the Senate panel that the head of the association, who wrote to the Senate chairperson, had been absent from the university for two months and students were suffering because of his absence and involvement in non-academic activities.

University of Sindh VC Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat also dwelled upon the activities of professors who rather than teaching were becoming a cause for concern.

Dr Burfat deplored that when he attempted to fix something, he was being defamed and lampooned on social media. He added that teachers of affiliated institutes wanted examinations centres of their choice and duties in particular institutes, which was a serious problem for him.

When the VC of the Fatima Jinnah University Multan stated that they conducted admission tests through the National Testing Service (NTS), Senator Kamil Ali Agha said the organisation was in tatters and its credibility under question. Its head had plagiarised his degree, he added.

Senator Ilyas Bilour added that the NTS was a fraud.



Punjab University VC Dr Zaffar Mueen also bemoaned the academic politics and students’ unions that were “wrecking havoc” on the university having the highest enrollment in the country.

“Recently there was a scuffle between two student groups and during the probe it was revealed that their strings were being pulled by the academic and political fraternity,” he said. The academic wondered if students’ unions were banned in Pakistan, why were the teachers’ unions not banned.

At the end of the meeting, committee chairperson Mir Kabeer informed the participants that they would visit the HEC for a comprehensive briefing about its activities and achievements.