What concerns? Teachers in dismay as varsity search committees notified

Say their reservations over criteria have been completely ignored by the government

LAHORE: As the Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) notified members of vice chancellor search committees for some universities, the teaching community was left crying foul as their reservations seem to have been brushed under the carpet.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) Punjab Chapter President Dr Javed Ahmed said that the teaching community would protest against the government’s move. Dr Ahmed, who led talks with government functionaries about the reservations of academic circles over the new criteria for the appointment of vice chancellors, said that the criteria and search committees were illegal in light of the Lahore High Court’s decision.

The Cabinet Committee on Legislative Business had earlier approved the names of search committee members tasked with vetting and interviewing applicants for vice chancellors of four of the eight public sector universities without a head. Recommendations for two other universities are pending with the cabinet committee for approval.

The approved search committee for the University of Home Economics included the names of HED Secretary Nabeel Awan as secretary and Kinnaird College former principal Prof Dr Mira Phailbus as convener, while National College of Arts (NCA) former principal Sajida Haider Vandal, Lahore Grammar School Director Nighat Yawar Ali and Seema Aziz from Care Foundation are members.

For the University of Jhang, Nabeel Awan has been approved as secretary and member, Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Accreditation Committee Chairman Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi is convener, while PHEC Chairperson Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin, Dr Mira Phailbus and Seema Aziz are members.

For the Women University Multan, Nabeel Awan was approved as secretary and member, Nighat Yawar Ali is the convener and members include Sajida Haider Vandal, Salima Hashmi and Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi.

Names of search committee members approved for the University of Sahiwal include Nabeel Awan as secretary and member. Also, Information Technology University (ITU) Vice Chancellor, Adviser to Chief Minister and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) chief Dr Umar Saif is a convener with University of Engineering and Technology (UET) former vice chancellor Nighat Yawar Ali, Lieutenant General (Retd) Muhammad Akram Khan, and Government College University (GCU) Lahore Department of Political Science Chairperson Dr Khalid Manzoor Butt being members.

Meanwhile, for Punjab University, the HED has recommended Nabeel Awan as secretary and member and Descon Engineering Chief Executive Officer Riaz Dawood, who is also a member of Board of Directors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), as convener.

The other members include Dr Umar Saif, Dr Zafar Iqbal Qureshi and Punjab Commission on Status of Women Chairperson Fauzia Waqar for the search committee. The names are yet to be approved by the Cabinet Committee.

Talking about the notification for search committees at four universities, FAPUASA Punjab Chapter President Dr Javed Ahmed said that his peers maintained a clear stance on the issue. “We see that the government of Punjab wants to take over the varsities. Seeing the criteria and the composition of search committees, we have no doubt that they want to favour some people by appointing them at top slots,”

He added that the teaching community was left disappointed as it was promised that its concerns, which were given in writing, would be forwarded to relevant authorities. “They told us to submit our reservations in a week after which we were to meet them (HED and other government officials) again. We submitted our recommendations today. However, to our surprise, they went ahead and notified the search committees,”  He claimed that the search committee members had nothing to do with managing universities and were more experienced with school education. Ahmed stressed that the teachers would wait no longer and protest against the decision. “We will also use all legal means, including challenging the notification of search committees, in court.”

Punjab HED Spokesperson Sabih Gondal said that the meeting between teachers and government representatives had decided that reservations of FAPUASA would be shared with the relevant authorities. He stated Punjab Chief Minister was briefed about the fears of the teaching community, as promised. As for the appointment of vice chancellors was concerned, he said the appointments would be made as per law and court orders. He said the major bone of contention between teachers and the government was the removal of the condition of a PhD for a potential vice chancellor.

“The government has a very clear stance that having a PhD carries additional marks, giving academics an edge over others,” he said. The spokesperson added varsities were not making much progress as PhD holders had been running universities for decades. “It was decided that a chance should be given to people who had managerial experience.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2018.