ISLAMABAD: The delay in the appointment of the heads of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) is causing unrest among the faculty members.

On Oct 8, the education ministry moved a summary carrying nine names, three for each post, to the Prime Minister’s Office. But so far the appointments have not been made.

After approval of the prime minister, the president, being the chancellor of federal chartered universities, is supposed to give his final approval.

However, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood is optimistic that soon the new appointments would be made.

Talking to Dawn, faculty members of the three universities expressed concerns over the delay, saying the ministry had moved the summary on last Monday and it should have been approved or rejected within a few days.

“After over a week, still no one knows when the appointments will be made,” said an official of the education ministry.

He said the affairs of the universities were being run on an ad hoc basis which left a negative impact on their working.

A few days ago, the education ministry appointed Dr Nasir Mahmood, who is senior among the deans but a junior professor, to look after the affairs of the country’s large distance learning university while ignoring 11 senior professors.

“There is unrest among the faculty members and regular appointments should be made immediately,” said a faculty member of AIOU.

Sources in QAU and IIUI said because of the delay in appointment of the regular heads some faculty members had been trying to get the acting charge of the lucrative posts. The country’s top ranked university QAU is being run without any head for the last three days.

QAU Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Ashraf completed his four-year term on Friday last while AIOU VC Dr Shahid Siddiqui and IIUI Rector Dr Masoom Yasinzai also completed their terms earlier this month.

The sources said Dr Siddiqui and Dr Ashraf didn’t re-apply but Dr Yasinzai was amongst the potential candidates for the IIUI rector post.

When contacted, the education minister told Dawn on Tuesday that the search committee after going through the educational credentials of around 300 candidates had shortlisted 28 candidates. After conducting their interviews, nine candidates were finalised (three against each of the three posts). He said the summary carrying names of the shortlisted candidates had been sent to the PM office for onward submission to the president.

“I think the summary has been approved by the prime minister and now it is the prerogative of the president to approve it as it is or otherwise,” the minister said, adding the president could hold interviews of the shortlisted candidates before the final approval.

An official of the ministry said the names of Dr Yasinzai, Prof Dr Mohammad Abbas, VC University of Gujrat, Prof Dr Ziaul Islam and QAU Professor Dr Zabta Shinwari were among the candidates.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2018