—Interviews for new HEC chief post were held between April 18 to 20 at the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training
—Four officials from federal HEC provided assistance to ministry’s search committee
ISLAMABAD: The race for the selection of the new Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman has entered the final stages but 16 candidates have so far failed to provide the relevant personal information to the search committee, with some even refusing to turn up for the interview.
According to the documents available with Pakistan Today, out of the total 110 candidates called for interviews, around 16 candidates did not provide any information and even failed to appear for the interviews. Two among them, including former University of the Punjab, Lahore, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran and Dr Tahir Rasheed from Karachi, showed serious reservations over the selection process and for this reason they did not turn up for the interview.
The remaining candidates who did not appear for the interview, included Professor Dr Khalid Mehmood Iraqi, Dr Abdul Nabi, Dr Qaisar Abbas, Dr Saadullah Tareen, Dr Muhammad Ishtiaq Qadri, Dr Basharat Hasan, Dr Altaf Hussain, Dr Muhammad Azam Khan Chishti, Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal and Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir.
The interviews were conducted for three consecutive days from April 18 to 20 at the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in Islamabad. The information sought from the final candidates asked for information such as teaching experience (in years), degrees earned by each candidate and other similar queries.
Apart from this, candidates were also required to submit details of their year wise administrative experience as rectors, vice-chancellors/presidents, registrars, controller examinations, deans, chairpersons and heads of departments.
In addition, the candidates were also required to submit information about their specific research areas, along with information about their published work in journals, in the form of books, the number of awards won for their work, and the number of PhD students supervised during the course of their careers.
The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training required the technical assistance of four officials from the federal HEC to provide support to the search committee in verification of testimonials and research publications of the candidates.
Per the available documents, the following information was furnished by all the four shortlisted candidates, whose names were forwarded to the prime minister on May 12.
Dr Tariq Banuri: He claimed to have 10 years of teaching experience in degree awarding institutions as an assistant professor and professor, while information about his administrative experience in degree awarding institutions as rector, vice chancellor, registrar and other administrative posts had not been shared.
The number of international publications in his name in the impact factor journals amounted to 20 but the number of international patents was nil.
Similarly, the number of books published by international publishers was five, while he also supervised 10 PhD students and won two international awards for his work.
Professor Dr Muhammad Mukhtar: He claimed to have 27 years of teaching experience in degree awarding institutions as an assistant professor, associate professor, and professor.
He also claimed to have 19 years of administrative experience in degree awarding institutions as vice-chancellor and chairperson, director, and biosafety/radiation safety adviser.
He claimed to have 101 international publications in impact factor journals. However, the number of international patents in his name were nil, except for one research product which was undergoing clinical trials.
He also shared that three of his books had been published by international publishers. He supervised two PhD students, besides supervising 31 post-doctorate scholars as well. He claimed to have won 21 international awards during his career.
Professor Dr Mohammad Iqbal Chaudhry: He claimed to have 30 years of teaching experience in degree awarding institutions as a lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. He also claimed to have 25 years of administrative experience in degree awarding institutions only as head of a department and not as rector, vice-chancellor or registrar.
He claimed to have 1,095 international publications in impact factor journals while holding 63 international patents for different products.
He shared the number of his books published by international publishers as 40. The number of PhD students supervised by him was 78 while he had won 18 international awards.
Professor Dr Anwar-ul-Hassan Gilani: He claimed to have 36 years of teaching experience in degree awarding institutions as a lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor and professor, along with having 10 years of administrative experience in degree awarding institutions as head of a department, chairperson, and dean and not as rector, vice-chancellor, registrar or other top administrative posts.
He claimed to have 70 international publications to his name in impact factor journals. However, the number of international patents to his name was nil.
Two of his books had also been published by international publishers, while he supervised 20 PhD students, besides winning two international awards for his work.
