The Higher Education Commission (HEC) seems perturbed over the public-sector universities’ tenacious attitude of not stopping advertisements for the opening of sub-campuses -- directly or through franchises -- without obtaining No Objection Certificate (NOC).
According to reports, there are 10 universities that opened sub-campuses and advertised their programmes without obtaining the “blessings” of the HEC. The commission has warned that such campuses will not be recognised by the commission.
In order to convey its concern, HEC Executive Director Prof Dr Mansoor Akbar Kundi has recently sent a letter to the vice chancellors of all public-sector universities in the country.
Various stakeholders have taken this letter as contravention to a Commission’s already circulated guidelines aimed at introduction of public-private partnership (P3) campuses. Earlier last month, HEC’s Accreditation & Attestation Division Director-General Muhammad Raza Chohan had circulated a letter among all the VCs and rectors of the universities in the country introducing public-private partnership (P3) campuses.
The commission had taken the plea that the government alone was unable to provide space for ever-growing student population desirous of seeking place in tertiary education. The guidelines suggested that the P3-Campus of a university would be opened and operated with the partnership of private societies, trusts or foundations after fulfilling the criteria.
Prof Kundi says the Commission is not against the opening of the sub-campuses and franchises but wants that the varsities should get NOC prior to launching the programmes for effective monitoring by the HEC. He says the franchises are carrying the vice chancellors towards commercialism that may result in decline in quality of education being imparted in higher education institutions. “The HEC monitoring will ensure that the campuses, to be opened by the private parties, should offer quality education without becoming too costly for the general masses,” he clarified.
Prof Kundi, in his letter, says the Commission has been vested with powers to grant the NOC on campuses and is issuing alerts to all higher education institutions in the country regarding seeking certificate prior to staring any academic activity on their new campuses and affiliates. “The higher education institutions should refrain from launching such kind of new proposals without the blessings of the commission. Otherwise, the commission reserves the right to cause performance evaluation and take appropriate action against any university in case the set standards are not met,” the HEC letter says.
THE University of Management and Technology last week conferred degrees on 1,004 graduates including two PhDs at its 10th convocation. As many as 57 students received gold medals and eight graduates got special awards for showing extraordinary performance.
Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, delivering his keynote address, said education alone was a catalyst for real change and the path to put country on the road to peace and prosperity.
Recalling the laying of UMT’s foundation stone 15 years ago, he said it was a barren land but now the varsity had developed serious educational atmosphere, which was growing day by day. He said he also belonged to a middle-class family and his entire team was graduated from Pakistani universities but worked together and made Pakistan a nuclear power.
Dr Khan announced giving Dr AQ Khan Hospital to the ILM Trust, which is currently under construction near Minar-i-Pakistan, where UMT’s School of Health Sciences students and faculty would be engaged for teaching.
UMT Rector Dr Hasan Sohaib Murad said the university was striving for the cause of Muslim Ummah and looking forward to extending its best contributions for Muslim leadership in knowledge and to discover new possibilities in all spheres of life.
THE fissures in the Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) are deepening as the elected president and secretary have come into direct confrontation with the association’s body that “replaced the secretary in a deceitful manner.”
The remaining ASA body members, being backed by the vice chancellor, say the secretary has been replaced because he failed to protect teachers’ rights and eventually lost their confidence.
ASA (former) secretary Javed Sami was an active member of the Teachers Front and close aide of the vice chancellor that led him to win the association as well as Syndicate elections. He enjoyed varsity’s administrative posts but had to face VC’s wrath, when he reportedly refused to act on his advice with regard to issuing a notice to another close aide.
Mr Sami had also circulated an SMS among many faculty members that he was facing life threats from the vice chancellor.
Afterwards, the ASA body without president Dr Ahsan Sharif and secretary Javed Sami gave caretaker charge of association secretary to Dr Mahboob Husain.
Responding to the decision, association president Dr Sharif issued a statement to newspapers condemning a few members of the body’s executive council for the illegal and deceitful act of making an effort to replace the secretary. He stated that the ASA constitution did not allow any member to convene the executive council meeting except the secretary and without the general instructions by president, or on the requisition of one-third members of the council.
He said Dr Husain was merely an executive member of the association and did not hold any capacity to call the general body meeting on any issue. “The mala fide news and unlawful claims by few members show their appalling intentions of dividing the community and putting the interests of whole university at stake,” said Dr Sharif.
Meanwhile, ASA acting secretary Dr Husain says president Dr Sharif and dysfunctional secretary Sami have lost confidence among faculty members for not protecting the rights of teachers’ community. “As many as 15 out of 18 ASA executive members held a meeting and unanimously passed a resolution against Sami’s illegal activities and barred him from holding his office under article VII (4) of the ASA constitution,” Dr Husain asserts.
He also says two-thirds of the association executive council members had submitted requisition to president Dr Sharif to summon a meeting of executive council but he failed to perform his constitutional duty by not calling the meeting.
Rejecting the personal interests of association president and dysfunctional secretary, Dr Husain commits that the association executive council will protect the respect and rights of teachers.
Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014
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