Muslim universities

This refers to the article, ‘Muslim universities’ (January 31) by Dr Javaid Laghari. The writer has raised a number of issues in his article that require more discussion. To appoint vice chancellors, there should be university selection committees consisting of senior professors of respective universities. At present, the HEC seems to be least bothered about sticking to the qualification criteria with the result that several VCs are non-PhDs. The HEC needs to play an important role in making sure that the criteria for the selection of VCs are adhered to.

I agreed with the writer when he says that the majority of faculty members should hold PhD degrees. Another important requirement for appointing faculty members is the minimum number of publications in research journals. What about Pakistani faculty members’ publications with no citation (or with few citations)? The HEC should monitor not only the number of publications of faculty members, but also the number of citations of these publications. Citations should be given more importance. The HEC should also help universities get accredited with international universities by giving them extra points in ranking. This is because HEC-approved universities have failed to get accredited even by accreditation councils established by the HEC itself. Moreover, the HEC should facilitate and support scholars who are willing to get admission to top universities of the world.

Prof Tariq R Soomro

Karachi