Edwardes College principal appointed

PESHAWAR: The historic Edwardes College Peshawar finally got a full-time principal amid reservations over the appointment process as the board of governors accorded approval to the lone eligible candidate from among the list of five of which only three appeared before the board for an interview.

The lone eligible candidate Dr Sharoon Hanook was appointed as principal.

The board of governors met here on Tuesday with Governor Shah Farman who is chairman of the board for the sole purpose of appointment of the principal. This was the fourth consecutive meeting for this purpose. The official handout circulated after the meeting stated that three out of the five recommended candidates appeared for the interview. Two were not eligible for the position and only one Dr Sahroon Hanook was fit for the post. Therefore, instead of keeping the matter pending anymore, the board decided to appoint the lone eligible candidate as principal.

However, a number of members of the board expressed serious reservations over the process. One member told The News that the board was badly trapped.

He said that the list had been knowingly manipulated as four ineligible and one eligible candidate had been proposed and the board was left with no other choice but to appoint him. The candidate was not even interviewed, the member said. Only one question was asked from him as to how would he run the affairs of the institution for which he could give just a 17-second long answer, the member claimed.

He said that the official members and the representatives of the Diocese of Peshawar were adamant to appoint him as they believed that they were under tremendous pressure.

“I have been receiving phone calls from many people including Prime Minister Imran Khan to decide the matter at the earliest. I can’t hold it further,” the governor was reported as saying.

Some reports suggested that after the ouster of the previous principal Nayyer Fardows and the cases filed by the Diocese of Peshawar in the Peshawar High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Bishop of Peshawar had lost his relevance to the college.

But during the previous two meetings of the board, he not only ensured his attendance in the board’s meetings but also held out the assurance that he would honestly resolve the matter of appointment of the principal and other issues. It was learnt that the bishop played an effective role in the appointment to regain his lost relevance to the college’s affairs.

During the past few years, the college funds have increased manifold and it has reached Rs one billion, which needs to be kept under a vigilant eye, the sources said.

Speaking at the board’s meeting, the governor said he had been under criticism for the delay in the appointment of the principal. He said as per the Supreme Court decision, the Lahore Diocese Trust Association had to recommend a panel of five candidates for the office.

Among the five recommended names only one was eligible and they were having no other choice but to appoint him, he said. The new principal Dr Sharoon Hanook is an assistant professor at the National University of Science and Technology or NUST Islamabad.