KP govt to re-advertise VC post of Swat University

PESHAWAR: Taking notice of the low standard of eligibility criteria fixed for appointment of vice-chancellor for the University of Swat, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government Friday cancelled the advertisement and announced to re-advertise the position soon.
“The advertisement has been cancelled. I have directed the department to submit a summary to the chancellor for a fresh advertisement with eligibility criteria for the vice-chancellor in accordance with the new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities (Amendment) Act, 2015. Soon after the chancellor’s approval the position would be advertised afresh,” said Mushtaq Ghani, provincial minister for higher education, while talking to The News. The minister took notice of the matter after a story about it appeared in “The News” on Thursday.
Mushtaq Ghani, who also holds the portfolio of information, said that the previous advertisement had also been issued after the approval by the chancellor of public sector universities.
He said that as only three months were left in the expiry of the term of the vice-chancellor of University of Swat and they had to complete the process of appointment of the new vice-chancellor within this period, the department submitted a summary to the chancellor for approval of the eligibility criteria in line with an old act.
He said that the universities in Malakand division, which is Provincially Administered Tribal Area (Pata), were run under presidential regulations and the newly adopted Universities Act by the provincial government has not been extended there.
Later, in an official handout, Higher Education Minister Mushtaq Ghani said that the eligibility criteria mentioned in the advertisement was not meant to appoint some blue-eyed boy. He claimed that the provincial government was taking all decisions on the basis of merit, fairplay and transparency.