LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Department has denied the extension of six vice chancellors of public sector universities and has instructed the VC Search Committee to advertise for the posts, Pakistan Today learnt on Tuesday.
Sources informed that a summary was sent to the Punjab Chief Minister in which HED highlighted ‘unsatisfied progress and administrative weaknesses’ as the reasons why their applications for extension were rejected. The six universities include Sargodha University, Bahuddin Zakria University Multan, Fatima Jinnah University Multan, Government College University Lahore (GCU) Lahore, University of Education (UOE) and Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) Lahore.
Among the six VCs, two have completed their tenures and the other four will complete their tenures by March 2011. LCWU VC Prof Dr Bushra Mateen and UOE VC Dr Munawer Sultana Mirza completed their tenures on November 20 while GCU VC Prof Dr Khalid Aftab’s tenure ends on February 25, 2011. HED sources said that Prof Aftab and Prof Bushra had already enjoyed extensions and now the three universities of Lahore and three other from the Punjab will see new VCs in their varsities, as search committee was planning to advertise for the posts.
An HED official said it is the first time that six posts of the vice chancellors will be announced together, ending their long tenures. He said there were different reasons for denying the extensions of these VC’s, mismanagement had started to damage the institutions’ repute. Financial embezzlement and corruption were also the reasons, he added.
He said that VCs had already gotten enough extensions that faculty and students had started demanding a change. HED official explained how GCU VC did his best to protect former GCU Registrar Faisal Khurshid despite a number of serious issues highlighted by the faculty against him. He said the HED was aware of the issue, so HED directed GCU to advertise the post for their new registrar.
Similarly, he said there were a number of issues in other varsities as well which basically made HED to refuse any extension. He said HED had asked the LCWU and UOE vice chancellors to work till the new appointments. Another HED official, on anonymity, said VCs in these universities used their influence to get extensions but this time mismanagement exposed their performances. He said influence and government support is a good tool to get extensions.
UET VC Lt Gen (r) Muhammad Akram was in the good list of Punjab CM. He said a foreign PhD degree was required for the VC’s post but UET VC, without a degree, not only served as VC but also is a member of the search committee. He said University of Health Sciences (UHS) VC retained his post for a long time and many other VCs also demanded extensions which the chief minister refused.
He said Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) protested against the appointments of retired army personnel as VCs but they are hopeful that the search committee will make better appointments this time.
