HEC postpones interviews for DG post

The Higher Education Commission has postponed the interviews for the posts of DG after Federal Education Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui expressed his displeasure.

Despite the clear instructions of the federal government and ongoing legal challenges, the process of recruitment to fill senior positions in the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is still ongoing, which has raised serious questions about regulatory compliance and transparency, while an acting director general and eight directors of the HEC have filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court, challenging the current selection process.

Interestingly, the Establishment Division had issued a clear office memorandum on June 4, 2024, directing all federal ministries, divisions, departments, and autonomous bodies, including the HEC, to complete the recruitment process within 120 days of the publication of the recruitment advertisement.

The directive stated: “The extension of the period of 120 days for recruitment to BPS-20 and above or equivalent posts will be possible only with the approval of the Prime Minister.” In the case of the HEC, the last date for the submission of applications for these posts was fixed as July 29, 2024. However, after the lapse of almost 11 months, the recruitment process was started without any approval from the Prime Minister’s Office. Later, when the news was published in Daily Jang and The News, the education minister and some members of the Selection Board took strict notice of it, after which the interviews for the posts of DG were postponed.

It should be remembered that the recruitment activities in the HEC are intensifying at a time when the tenure of the current HEC chairman is about to end on July 30, 2025. Moreover, the appointment of the executive director, the head of the HEC Secretariat, has not yet been made, and this post is being run on an acting basis. Although this vacancy has also been advertised, the appointment has not been made yet.

It may be recalled that Daily Jang and The News had reported on June 10 that out of the 13 vacancies advertised for the appointment of director general, no seat has been reserved for Karachi and Hyderabad, which are important centers of higher education in the country, and the recruitment process is being started after 11 months.