ISLAMABAD: Due to alleged negligence of officials from the Ministry of Federal Education, the process of appointment of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman has still not been completed.

The post has been lying vacant since May 29 when the four-year term of former HEC chairman Dr Tariq Banuri ended.

“It was crystal clear that Dr Banuri will retire on May 29. The process of appointing the new chairman should have started a couple of months ago, however, the ministry started it a few days before his retirement,” said an officer of the HEC.

According to an official from the education ministry, in response to an advertisement, around 140 candidates applied for the post of HEC chairman and out of them, around 50 were shortlisted by a search committee.

Education ministry official claims no negligence involved

The officer said this committee was making effort towards completing the process within one month.

The committee, he said, after carrying out interviews, will shortlist three names that will be sent to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who will then choose a new head.

Meanwhile, the officer said the commission and ministry officials were planning to get approval from the federal government for giving temporary charge of the post of HEC chairman to the vice chancellor of Balochistan University of Information Technology Engr Ahmed Farooq Bazai.

The HEC is a regulator of 235 universities – 141 from the public sector and 94 from the private sector – and it annually gets over Rs100 billion as development and non-development budget. However, currently it has no regular chairman while its executive director (ED) is also working on a temporary basis.

HEC Executive Director Dr Shaista Sohail retired last year after reaching age of superannuation, but her tenure was extended twice, initially for three months. Later, she was allowed to continue working until the appointment of a new ED, whose appointment has also been facing delay.

When contacted, a senior officer of the ministry claimed that there was no negligence involved in the process of the appointment of the HEC chairman.

“Soon, we will have a competent chairman,” the officer said, adding that Minister of Education Rana Tanvir Hussain, who is head of the search committee, had already issued directions to expedite the appointment process. He said on June 20, the minister will chair an important meeting in this regard.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2022