Campus diary: HEC rejects appeals of four PIEAS researchers blacklisted for plagiarism

No university has taken any action against their academics blacklisted by HEC

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has rejected appeals of four faculty members of the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) who had been blacklisted by the commission for plagiarising their research paper earlier this year.

Dr Masroor Ikram, Dr Mushtaq Ahmed, Dr Shamraz Firdous and Dr Muhammad Nawaz were put on the HEC’s list of blacklisted faculty after the commission found a research paper they authored plagiarised. They will remain on the black list until January 2017.

Interestingly, despite being blacklisted, Firdous was awarded by the HEC for being the “best researcher” in the country. The award, however, was revoked when the HEC realised the blunder.

Similarly, Ikram was awarded a presidential award on Pakistan Day this year. Later, when the issue was highlighted by newspapers, the Cabinet Division sought details of Ikram’s plagiarism case from the HEC. Ikram had defended himself by saying that an appeal had been filed with the HEC against the decision.

Sources in the HEC say that the commission thoroughly reviewed their case and the controversial research paper, found the charge valid, and rejected the appeals.

PIEAS management, however, is yet to take any action against the four academics. Masroor is working as director academics while Shamraz as director National Institute of Lasers and Optronics at PIEAS.

HEC has blacklisted over 40 faculty members of different universities for plagiarising their research. No university, however, has taken action against their academics penalised by the higher education authority.

Ruckus at QAU

Confrontation between the vice-chancellor and employees continues at the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU). Employees say the VC is a “business-oriented” person who is trying to privatise university’s hostels and security system.

The administration had to call in the police after employees marched towards the administration block chanting “go VC go” slogans on Thursday. They ended the protest but warned to assemble again on Monday.

A few months back, the employees protested against the VC’s decision to sell 15-16 acres of university’s land to an autonomous body for Rs50 million. The decision, however, has been shelved by the university administration since.

Dr Javed Ashraf, the VC, denied all allegations and said it was all “propaganda” against him.

Violence at Urdu university

Meanwhile, the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) will resume academic activities on Monday after a violent clash between two ethnic groups of students on June 9. The university has been closed ever since.

Also, the politics and struggle between the former and the current VC and their groups had affected the university’s academic environment in recent months. As a result, there have been only a few classes in various departments in this semester so far.

Problems at CADD

The Capital Administration and Development Division, which controls school and college education in Islamabad, is also facing a number of challenges ranging from service delivery to insufficient school buildings to accommodate an ever increasing number of students.

It is yet to complete the process of ensuring security for schools, a process which was started after the Peshawar school attack in December last year.

The sword of abolishment is also dangling over its head as talk of transferring education from CADD to the federal education ministry is rife among school principals and the officialdom.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2015.