KARACHI: Expressing serious reservations over the selection process held to make recommendation for the post of executive director at Sindh Higher Education Commission (SHEC), teachers representing several public sector universities of the province called upon the chief minister to intervene and declare the selection process null and void.

A recent selection board held at the NED University recommended former acting vice chancellor of Nusrat Bhutto University, Sukkur Dr Samreen Hussain for the post of executive director at SHEC.

Dr Samreen, who is set to hold the acting charge of vice chancellor of another university near Sukkur, is the wife of Dr Asim Hussain, the incumbent chairman of SHEC.

“She is being given acting charges because she doesn’t qualify for the regular post [of vice chancellor]. In such a case, how could she get the top slot at the higher education commission when she is ineligible for the [regular] post of vice chancellor,” argued Sindh University Jamshoro syndicate member Dr Arfana Mallah.

Teachers urge CM to declare selection process null and void

The entire selection process was manipulated to benefit one candidate, she claimed.

The SHEC, she alleged, had been made hostage to Dr Asim’s whims as “he had been running the commission for eight years without an iota of accountability”.

Replying to some of the allegations, a member of the selection board explained that Dr Asim did not participate in the proceedings, and there were no rules that barred husband and wife taking key posts in one department.

“The selection board consisted of seven members who separately evaluated candidates,” he told Dawn on the condition of anonymity, adding that candidates’ qualification for the said post was examined by other officials prior to their appearance in the selection board.

Karachi University Teacher’s Society president Prof Shah Aliul Qadr said ethics and morality attained higher grounds when it came to candidates’ evaluation, though there were no written rules on husband and wife working on key posts in one department.

“Both Dr Asim and Dr Samreen are controversial and incompetent for their posts. It is an absolute lack of merit in Sindh that the performance of higher education commissions in other provinces is far better than here,” he said.

Sharing their concerns, Prof Nek Muhammad Shaikh representing the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) and Prof Ikhtiar Ali Ghumro representing teachers’ association at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, said Fapuasa had been demanding removal of Dr Asim Hussain from SHEC for a long time on the grounds of conflict of interest as he ran a private university.

“Instead of removing him, now his wife is being appointed as the commission’s executive director. This is the height of nepotism,” Prof Shaikh said.

When contacted, minister for universities and boards Ismail Rahu expressed ignorance about Dr Samreen’s recommendation and contended that the commission was not under the department of universities and boards.

“It operates independently and only answerable to the chief minister,” he said.

Interestingly, according to court documents, Dr Asim’s third-time appointment as chairman of SHEC had been recommended by the universities and boards department through a summary submitted to the chief minister.

The re-appointment had been challenged on multiple grounds including the fact that a chairman couldn’t have a third term under the SHEC Act, 2013.

Sources said Dr Samreen’s appointment would be approved by the commission led by Dr Asim soon. The chief minister, they said, had recently approved a summary recommending her appointment as acting VC of Aror University near Sukkur.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2022