Abandoned academia : Universities crumble without VCs, deans

Where the leadership of a university is indispensable for managing its academic and financial affairs, the failure of the provincial government to appoint permanent leadership across universities in Peshawar has landed them in deep trouble.

Despite the government promising the appointment of permanent Vice-Chancellors (VCs) in four universities after the completion of the three-month term of the ad hoc dual appointments, many including the Women University Swabi, University of Lakki Marwat, Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak and University of Agriculture Dera Ismail Khan, continue to operate unsupervised.

“A total of 12 universities operate without a VC in Peshawar. Moreover, many universities like the University of Peshawar, do not even have a Dean for major departments like the social sciences,” said Dr. Muhammad Uzair, President at the Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA), who further added that students could not be granted their degrees in the absence of a Dean.

“The university can land in deep financial and logistical troubles in the absence of permanent leadership,” added Uzair, who called out the government for not taking serious consideration of the degree of academic mismanagement which haunted universities due to ad hoc dual appointments given to appointees of other institutions.

It is worthy of mentioning here that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government had given extra charges of some universities to the VCs of other universities, with the charge of Women University Swabi given to the VC of Swabi University, University of Lakki Marwat’s charge given to the VC of University of Science and Technology Kohat and University of Agriculture D.I. Khan’s charge given to the VC of Gomal University.

Speaking to the Express Tribune on the incompetence of the government in appointing permanent VCs and Deans despite its promise, Dr. Feroz Shah, President of the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association K-P Chapter conceded to the degree of disharmony that existed in unsupervised institutions but also clarified that it was not the jurisdiction of the caretaker government to make leadership appointments in the universities.

“The previous government too had delayed the process of making VC appointments. Without VCs recruitment matters and other important decisions regarding university development are halted, which significantly impact the performance of the universities,” asserted Dr. Shah, who appealed to the government to take swift notice of the matter so that the quality of education in universities across the province could be improved.

In its efforts to seek a justification from the government body concerned, The Express Tribune tried contacting the Higher Education Department several times, but the call was not answered.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2023.