NA panel takes notice of Urdu varsity affairs

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training on Tuesday expressed serious concern over alleged governance crisis at the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences & Technology (FUUAST), Islamabad, and noted that the varsity has failed to adequately address officially reported grievances.

Compounding this lack of accountability, the committee discovered that the vice chancellor undertook foreign travel without obtaining the mandatory no objection certificate (NOC), a breach of established protocols.

The committee meeting was held under the convenership of Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro at the Committee Room of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

Regarding the inquiry into FUUAST’s affairs, the committee asked the Ministry of Education to formally submit the findings of the inquiry committee and provide a detailed report within two weeks. The committee also critically examined the performance of the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), criticising its failure to provide essential data to evaluate programme effectiveness. It asked the NAVTTC to immediately furnish clear and verifiable figures on the total number of persons trained, scholarships awarded, and most importantly the number of trained individuals who have secured employment.

Furthermore, the committee pressed the NAVTTC on the strategic relevance of its programmes, demanding a justification of how it identifies skill demands in international markets that were directly integrated into its training curriculum.

In a separate briefing, the committee was informed about the services provided by the National Institute of Psychology (NIP) at Quaid-i-Azam University.

Acknowledged as Pakistan’s premier institution in the field, the committee commended NIP for its specialised clinical psychology training and its practice centre, where students under qualified faculty supervision provide vital psychological assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic interventions to the community.