Government college: Governor rejects CM’s pick for vice chancellor
Dispute over who should have final say in selection of VCs.
LAHORE:
After more than a two-month search for the right candidate, the governor has rejected the chief minister’s pick to lead Government College University (GCU).
Sources said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had personally interviewed three candidates for the job, referred to him by a selection committee. These were Prof Khaliqur Rehman, the UET Physics department chairman, Prof Muhammad Akram Kashmiri, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education chairman, and Ameenul Haq, the GCU Sustainable Development Study Centre director.
The CM picked Prof Rehman and a summary outlining his qualifications and recommending his hiring was sent to Governor’s House. But Governor Sardar Latif Khosa rejected the nomination, on the grounds that as chancellor of all public universities in the Punjab, it was the governor’s prerogative to select the VC, not the chief minister’s.
However, the chief minister believes that after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution made education a provincial subject, the provincial government should have the final say in education matters, the sources said.
Prof Rehman told The Express Tribune that the situation was damaging to the university. “The entire matter has created confusion among the authorities. Some say the CM can make appointments, some say only the governor can. Others say the appointment can be referred by the CM but can only be approved by the chancellor,” he said. Higher education secretary Haseeb Athar said that a detailed report of the situation had been sent to the education minister.
Education deputy secretary Riaz Ahmad Tariq said that inter-provincial coordination committees mentioned in the 18th Amendment would be formed to resolve the issue between the chief minister and the governor.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2011.
After more than a two-month search for the right candidate, the governor has rejected the chief minister’s pick to lead Government College University (GCU).
Sources said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had personally interviewed three candidates for the job, referred to him by a selection committee. These were Prof Khaliqur Rehman, the UET Physics department chairman, Prof Muhammad Akram Kashmiri, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education chairman, and Ameenul Haq, the GCU Sustainable Development Study Centre director.
The CM picked Prof Rehman and a summary outlining his qualifications and recommending his hiring was sent to Governor’s House. But Governor Sardar Latif Khosa rejected the nomination, on the grounds that as chancellor of all public universities in the Punjab, it was the governor’s prerogative to select the VC, not the chief minister’s.
However, the chief minister believes that after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution made education a provincial subject, the provincial government should have the final say in education matters, the sources said.
Prof Rehman told The Express Tribune that the situation was damaging to the university. “The entire matter has created confusion among the authorities. Some say the CM can make appointments, some say only the governor can. Others say the appointment can be referred by the CM but can only be approved by the chancellor,” he said. Higher education secretary Haseeb Athar said that a detailed report of the situation had been sent to the education minister.
Education deputy secretary Riaz Ahmad Tariq said that inter-provincial coordination committees mentioned in the 18th Amendment would be formed to resolve the issue between the chief minister and the governor.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2011.