The media reports regarding Academic Staff Association (ASA) of Government College University (GCU) Lahore supporting the proposed cut of two years in the tenure of vice chancellors (VCs) of public sector universities of Punjab are baseless, Pakistan Today has learnt.
While talking to Pakistan Today, GCU ASA General Secretary Dr Hamid Mukhtaar refuted all such news and condemned media outlets for resorting to ‘yellow journalism’.
He said that the platform didn’t issue any such statement nor it had any plan to support such decision by the government.
“The association stands by its original stance of not supporting any decision that leads to the reduction in the tenure of VCs of government sector universities,” he added.
Dr Mukhtaar, who has also served as general secretary of Federation of All Pakistan Union of Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA), said that the association has given a week’s time to the government to finalise the appointment of VCs and threatened to launch a protest movement if the appointments are not by the end of the week.
He termed the cut in tenure a plan to ruin the already deteriorating condition of higher education in the province.
It is pertinent to mention here that academic heads of GCU had written a letter to the governor, who is also chancellor of the university, to take notice of the fact that the university is being run with a VC.
According to sources in the university, “Everyone in the administration is behaving like the VC and the university is being run on ad-hoc basis.”