Change of management: Edwardes College’s new charter hits snag

Faculty, students oppose Diocese of Peshawar’s move to restructure college’s BoG.

PESHAWAR:

The new charter of the historic Edwardes College has ruffled quite a few feathers. The college’s alumni, students and faculty members have raised reservations over the ownership and administrative changes it necessitates.

The charter states that the university’s chairman and head of its Board of Governors (BoG), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Barrister Masood Kausar, will be replaced by its sponsoring body’s head, Diocese of Peshawar (DoP) Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peter. It also calls for restructuring of the BoG, by reducing the number of members and restricting their powers.

Moreover, the charter has called for awarding the DoP sole ownership of all current and future assets of the institute. The body will have the authority to lease, sell or transfer all “properties, rights and interest of whatever kind, used, enjoyed, possessed, owned or vested or held in trust by or for Edwardes College.” Those assets of the university that the DoP owned or managed will continue to be under its control, according to the new charter.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Amjid Khalil, an alumnus of Edwardes College, the BoG must comprise the maximum number of members to ensure consensus on key issues.



“A mere three or four-member board will make the body a one man show,” he said. Khalil said the governor should convene a meeting of all the former Edwardian working on key positions to sort out the whole issue. “No wrong decision can be taken if the governor and old Edwardians are present in the BoG,” he insisted. He went on to term the board’s restructuring “a conspiracy”.

Citing the new charter, the faculty members said if the president of the institute as well as the majority of the BoG and sponsoring bodies’ members are elected by the DoP, it will compromise the decision-making process. “The authorities should retain the status of the current BoG and must come forward to take exception of the mismanagement and embezzlement of the assets of the college,” said one faculty member.

He maintained that the government’s silence over the new charter is “questionable” as the government continues to extend financial assistance to the college. Various projects, including the hostel, teachers’ colony, and tube wells have been built for the college by the Rs30 million grant issued by the government, he added.



A few faculty members, however, were hopeful that the board of governors will hold a meeting and withdraw the new charter.

Students are of the view that the new charter is tantamount to doing away with the semi-autonomous status of the college and converting it into a degree-awarding institution.

When contacted, Bishop Peter dispelled the allegations that the institute’s land was being taken over.

He said no one can lease or sell the college property as it is a private institution owned by the church.

“The land is already on peripheral lease and we cannot do anything with the property,” he added.

Peter said the institute is the sole college of the Christian minority. “If anyone resorted to biased tactics to snatch our right, we will rise against them,” he added.

Regarding delegating of powers to the DoP, the bishop said that a draft of the new charter has once again been handed over to the staff for review and recommendations. “We told them to deliberate on the draft for redressing their apprehensions,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2012.