ISLAMABAD, July 21: The Higher Education Commission will hire services of 150 eminent scholars and researchers holding PhD degrees for teaching, guidance in research work and dissertation in universities, degree-awarding institutions and research centres. The step has been taken after the commission expanded its programme of hiring eminent educationists and researchers with the approval of the Central Development Working Party.

It is pertinent to mention here under an existing scheme approved by the Departmental Development Working Party of the HEC, 30 scholars have so far been placed at various public sector universities.

Such universities include University of the Punjab; University of Karachi; Allama Iqbal Open University; Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology; Quaid-i- Azam University; University of Agriculture, Faisalabad; HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi; NWFP Agriculture University; and University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

The objective of the programme is to utilize the services of experienced and talented scholars to facilitates MPhil/PhD teaching in different universities, degree-awarding institutions and centres of excellence. At present, universities are experiencing acute shortage of faculty with advanced-level qualification profile. The situation is deteriorating due to rapid retirement of teachers holding PhD degrees.

The scholars’ hiring programme, therefore, would help create a sizable body of scholars to improve quality of teaching and research in universities.

It will also help overcome the acute shortage of trained manpower. The existing ratio of PhDs to non PhDs faculty in various universities is 30:70. This initiative will improve the situation.

The programme has been expanded due to excellent feed back of the first phase of the project. It has been reported that the programme has contributed towards improvement in the quality of research activities.

The scholars hired under the programme will be on contract basis initially for one-year period extendible up to two years on the basis of their performance report.