PESHAWAR: Ten government universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are functioning without permanent vice-chancellors exposing the inefficiency of the authorities tasked with filling the top varsity posts.
Under the law, the process to appoint a VC is to begin six months before the tenure of the incumbent ends.
Currently, pro-VCs or senior faculty members of these universities are acting as stand-in for permanent VCs.
Among the universities are University of Peshawar, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, University of Swat, Kohat University of Science and Technology, University of Swabi, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak, Malakand University and University of Science and Technology Bannu.
UET Peshawar, University of Swat and Kohat University of Science and Technology have been functioning without regular VCs for more than a year.
According to the higher education department officials, the department is bound by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act, 2013, to advertise the vacant VC posts six months before the retirement of the incumbents.
CM adviser says CVs of candidates being scrutinised meticulously to prevent litigation
The relevant clause i.e. Section 12(3) was made part of the KPUA a year ago to keep the VC posts from lying vacant.
The officials told Dawn that most of the VC posts had been lying vacant for several months.
They said the department had advertised most of the VC vacancies in newspapers on Sept 28, 2016, attracting applications from several hundred candidates.
The officials said managing and scrutinising CVs of candidates was a very tough job, which required several employees to deal with it, but understaffing had made the task even tougher.
They said the relevant staff members had to work until late hours.
The officials said the department’s staff was sufficient when the province had from 10 to 12 universities but since the number had jumped to 25, the staff members were overburdened with work.
They also said the department hadn’t built the capacity of its employees over the years. The officials insisted several section officer posts had long been lying vacant adversely affecting the overall performance of the department.
They said section officers played a pivotal role in the efficient management of the department’s affairs.
The officials said another reason for the delay in the VCs’ appointment was that the academic search committee took a long time in naming VCs.
They said in the past, the committee had four members but the number was later increased to six through an amendment to the relevant law a few months ago.
The officials also complained the selection and appointment of the newly-added two members of the committee was a long-drawn-out process.
When contacted, adviser to the chief minister on higher education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani insisted the process of appointing VCs to the 10 universities was launched long before the incumbents retired.
“This time around, we are meticulously scrutinising the CVs (of the candidates) to prevent litigation,” he said, adding that in the past, many candidates had challenged such appointments in the court of law.
The adviser said he had directed the department to formally inform ineligible candidates before conducting interview for the VC vacancies.
He said the higher education department informed candidates about the reasons of their ineligibility, an exercise, which consumed a lot of time. Mr. Ghani said the academic search committee for the appointment of VCs would meet in two weeks.
He said a requisition had already been made to the establishment department for transferring competent officers to the higher education department in adequate number to address understaffing.
Under the law, the process to appoint a VC is to begin six months before the tenure of the incumbent ends.
Currently, pro-VCs or senior faculty members of these universities are acting as stand-in for permanent VCs.
Among the universities are University of Peshawar, University of Engineering and Technology Peshawar, University of Swat, Kohat University of Science and Technology, University of Swabi, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak, Malakand University and University of Science and Technology Bannu.
UET Peshawar, University of Swat and Kohat University of Science and Technology have been functioning without regular VCs for more than a year.
According to the higher education department officials, the department is bound by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act, 2013, to advertise the vacant VC posts six months before the retirement of the incumbents.
CM adviser says CVs of candidates being scrutinised meticulously to prevent litigation
The relevant clause i.e. Section 12(3) was made part of the KPUA a year ago to keep the VC posts from lying vacant.
The officials told Dawn that most of the VC posts had been lying vacant for several months.
They said the department had advertised most of the VC vacancies in newspapers on Sept 28, 2016, attracting applications from several hundred candidates.
The officials said managing and scrutinising CVs of candidates was a very tough job, which required several employees to deal with it, but understaffing had made the task even tougher.
They said the relevant staff members had to work until late hours.
The officials said the department’s staff was sufficient when the province had from 10 to 12 universities but since the number had jumped to 25, the staff members were overburdened with work.
They also said the department hadn’t built the capacity of its employees over the years. The officials insisted several section officer posts had long been lying vacant adversely affecting the overall performance of the department.
They said section officers played a pivotal role in the efficient management of the department’s affairs.
The officials said another reason for the delay in the VCs’ appointment was that the academic search committee took a long time in naming VCs.
They said in the past, the committee had four members but the number was later increased to six through an amendment to the relevant law a few months ago.
The officials also complained the selection and appointment of the newly-added two members of the committee was a long-drawn-out process.
When contacted, adviser to the chief minister on higher education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani insisted the process of appointing VCs to the 10 universities was launched long before the incumbents retired.
“This time around, we are meticulously scrutinising the CVs (of the candidates) to prevent litigation,” he said, adding that in the past, many candidates had challenged such appointments in the court of law.
The adviser said he had directed the department to formally inform ineligible candidates before conducting interview for the VC vacancies.
He said the higher education department informed candidates about the reasons of their ineligibility, an exercise, which consumed a lot of time. Mr. Ghani said the academic search committee for the appointment of VCs would meet in two weeks.
He said a requisition had already been made to the establishment department for transferring competent officers to the higher education department in adequate number to address understaffing.
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