Postponing interviews for KP universities’ VCs irks committee

PESHAWAR: The academic and search committee for appointment of vice chancellors of public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has expressed concern over repeated postponement of interviews for vice chancellors of 12 universities which have been functioning under caretaker setups for more than a year.

In a letter to the provincial secretary Higher Education Department, the committee chairman Dr Ataur Rahman asked for urgent holding of interviews so that further damage to universities in KP could be averted.

The News got a copy of the letter which stated that he (Dr Ata) and other members of the search committee were disturbed by the repeated postponement of interviews for the position of vice chancellors in KP universities. Some of the committee members including the chairman flew to Islamabad each time only to discover at the last moment that the interviews had been postponed by the government. The committee members were informed by sending a notification on WhatsApp without any explanation.

Dr Ataur Rahman observed that ad hocism caused by the unnecessary delay in the process for appointment of vice chancellors had been causing problems in the operations of universities. He also expressed concern over leakage of confidential information about the vice chancellors appointment from the Higher Education Department (HED). He specifically referred to the list of candidates showing marks given by the committee members to the candidates on the basis of which the shortlisting was done. “This is not the first time that this has happened and it is often the cause of delays as candidates not shortlisted start to use their political contacts or go to court to block the selection process,” the letter mentioned. The marks awarded by the committee members were circulated far and wide on the internet, highlighting the need for disciplinary action against the officers responsible.

The interviews for appointment of 12 public sector universities suffered a third-time postponement last month when Caretaker Minister for Higher Education Irshad Qaiser circulated a two-line notification to delay the process. These positions had been advertised in August last. Interviews for the first time were called in February 2023, which were delayed due to alleged wrangling between the chancellor’s office and the search committee. The interviews were again called in May, but some candidates moved court and got a stay order to stop the process. In July, the interviews were called again. But this time the caretaker minister postponed them without mentioning any reason. The undue delay in appointment of vice chancellors has been affecting administrative, academic and financial matters of universities adversely. Some five more vice-chancellors would complete their tenure in December this year. According to the Universities Act, the process for appointment of a vice-chancellor should be started six months prior to the completion of the tenure of the incumbent so that ad hocism could be averted.

But the process takes so much time that many of the universities often function under caretaker setups for years. Interestingly, most of the universities do have pro-vice chancellors to fill the gap and vice chancellors of the nearby universities are given additional charge that negatively affects the functioning of both the universities.