The vice-chancellor of the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, in his recent instructions, has directed the heads of all faculties to stop appointing retired professors as research guides for MPhil and PhD programmes, depriving them of their qualification allowance.

The vice-chancellor, who heads the prestigious institute of higher education, is supposed to know that a teacher/professor who retires at the pinnacle of his/her career has a plethora of skills and wealth of professional knowledge and experience which he/she has acquired over a period 35-40 years of teaching.

Thus, he/she is an invaluable and imperishable asset to the educational system where his/her services can be utilised for greater advantage. For this reason, in the developed world, either professors do not retire, or if they superannuate, they are given preference over young teachers to supervise MPhil and PhD scholars.

This decision will deprive the young scholars of the wisdom, knowledge and expertise which retired teachers/professors possess. I hope the university will reconsider this decision in students’ best interest and that of society at large.

M.H. Kureshi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021