May 10, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, May 9: The vice-chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), U.A.G. Isani, will lead a delegation, comprising varsity teachers and students, to discuss the future of Model University Ordinance with President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday, sources told Dawn.

They said the meeting had been organized by the chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Attaur Rehman.

The ordinance was promulgated by President Musharraf on November 13, 2002 whereby seven federally-administrated universities were declared autonomous and a new administrative setup introduced.

The meeting, which had long been planned by the HEC chairman, is a healthy sign and university teachers will be able to share their concerns regarding the controversial ordinance with President Musharraf, the sources said.

Earlier, when teachers’ associations had refused to accept the new law, the president asked the HEC chairman to hold indepth discussions with the academia of the universities concerned and sort out differences regarding the ordinance. This meeting is a follow up of that initiative, the sources said.

A senior university professor, on condition of anonymity, told Dawn that the teachers were likely to inform President Musharraf that as far as the QAU was concerned it was doing well and there was no need for such a new administrative setup.

He said there was a consensus among the teachers that the university’s administrative setup, which initially had been underlined in the 1973 Constitution and later distorted by Gen Zia, should be restored.

The administrative infrastructure, which had been given in the new law, is so vague and complicated that instead of bringing about some positive changes, it will create problems, he said.

“The new law does not talk about financial commitments; whether the federal government will be responsible for annual funding or the universities themselves will have to generate their resources,” he said. In QAU, the professor said, teachers had to appear infront of a selection committee for promotion purposes and research work of its students was recommended by the teachers of international universities.

Whereas under the new arrangement, there will be two categories of teachers — permanent and contract basis — and, if at all, the government was determined to enforce the new law, it should be discussed in the parliament followed by its two-third majority vote, he said.

It may be added here that, so far, none of the seven universities; Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Bahria University, Islamabad, Air University Islamabad, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi and National University of Sciences and Technology, Rawalpindi/Islamabad have expressed their willingness to implement the new law.