Appointment of VU board in limbo

Hiring of varsity’s rector also put on hold after the resignation of federal IT minister

ISLAMABAD: The resignation of the Federal Information Technology (IT) Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has brought with it a host of ramifications for government departments and institutions, none more so than the appointment of members to the board of the Virtual University (VU).

The appointment of varsity’s rector has also ground to a halt because the board of VU lies incomplete and the varsity has been forced to operate without a rector.

The VU management, as per the rules, had written to the IT ministry to nominate members for its board of governors, well-placed sources informed The Express Tribune.

However, before the process could be completed, Federal IT minister Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Siddiqui resigned owing to differences with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

In absence of the minister, all work at the IT ministry came to a virtual stop, including the nomination of the VU board.

Sources said that a scrutiny of the applications received for rector’s post has been completed and that the board just has to finalise a name from a list of shortlisted candidates. However, this matter has been delayed as well because the board remains incomplete.

Thus, the affairs of the varsity are currently being run without a rector.

The matter, however, can be resolved in the absence of a minister. For this purpose, the IT ministry secretary, being the chairman of the varsity’s board, can write to Prime Minister Imran Khan for appointing board members. Thereafter, the process of recruiting the rector can be completed within no time, sources explained.

However, there appears to be silence on the matter.

Other members of VU’s board include its rector, registrar, secretaries from the ministry of education and IT, chairpersons of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), three eminent educationists, serving or retired deans of any public university and a financial expert.

Lab on wheels rolled out

Science and Technology Minister’s Adviser Syed Hassan inaugurated the ‘Physics Lab on Wheels’, a project of the physics department at the Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU).

This special lab can move to distant areas to train government teachers and students who do not have access to labs to practise science experiments.

The major goal of the project is to enhance the interest of government school students in science subjects. Almost all basic physics experiment can be performed with the help of apparatus available in this mobile physics lab. All these science experiments (including light, friction, gravitation, forces) which will be performed are taken from the curriculum of Punjab Text Book Board, National Book Foundation and Oxford syllabus.

FJWU Vice Chancellor Dr Saima Hamid said the mobile lab will be beneficial for students. She appreciated the efforts of the department for this project and congratulated them.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2020.