The post has been vacant for four months.
Much akin to its predecessor, the callous disregard of the incumbent government towards education has led to court intervention.
An Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge on Thursday directed the federal government to appraise it of the steps taken so far to appoint a full-time chairman for the Higher Education Commission ((HEC).
The HEC has been functioning under an acting chairman after its former chief Dr Javaid Laghari retired on August 26, 2013.
On a petition moved by former HEC chairman Dr Ataur Rehman, IHC judge Justice Shaukat Siddiqui also directed the federal government to explicitly inform the court about the date the new chairman would be picked.
The government counsel, Jehangir Khan Jadoon, meanwhile, informed the court that the federal ministry of education and training has forwarded a summary to the prime minister for appointing a full-time HEC chairman. He said that the chairman will be appointed once the summary is approved.
Justice Siddiqui observed that the education ministry should bring the matter to the notice of the prime minister as it was of vital importance.
The petitioner’s counsel Umar Hanif Kichi argued that under the HEC Ordinance, the chairman’s slot should not lie vacant for more than three months. However, no full time chairman has been picked for the HEC, even after a lapse of 120 days.
The petitioner said that academia and the public at large have expressed reservations over non-appointment of a new chairman.
“Over 150 universities, 258 campuses, 1.2 million students, 32,000 faculty including over 7600 PhDs and over 100,000 administrative staff are getting affected due to the non-appointment of a regular or a permanent chairman.”
The petitioner argued that meetings of the commission have also not been convened due to non-appointment of the HEC chairman and the board members.
“The HEC Ordinance makes it binding that the commission must meet at least twice in a year, whereas the commission has not met even once in the last six months due to the non-availability of the full time HEC chairman,” the petitioner said.
He said that the appointment was also necessary as the HEC chairman initially shortlists aspiring candidates for HEC board members before forwarding their names to the prime minister for final approval.
The counsel for the petition informed the court that the delay in the appointment is negatively affecting the higher education sector. He maintained that a new Tertiary Education Support Programme worth $300 million approved on March 24, 2011 could be withdrawn if an appointment is not made.
The petitioner’s counsel said USAID is finalising a US$250 million support programme for the HEC focusing on the establishment of centres of excellence in water, energy and agriculture, adding that could also be cancelled if the HEC does not appoint a regular chairperson.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ