ISLAMABAD: The appointment of heads at three public-sector universities in the capital – Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) –has been facing inordinate delay.

The posts of vice chancellors (VCs) fell vacant in November while the IIUI rector completed his tenure in October.

“Officials of the ministry of education were aware of the expiry of tenure of the heads of these universities. The process should have been started well before the completion of tenure to make the appointment the very next day. But due to negligence, it was not started in time,” said a faculty member at the QAU.

In order to find suitable candidates, a search committee headed by Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain completed interviews during the last week of December. The committee interviewed about 108 candidates. It is supposed to send three names each against a single post –nine names in total –to the Prime Minister’s (PM) Office to seek approval for final appointments.

Committee to meet again, finalise names this week, says official

A senior official of the ministry said the committee would meet again this week to finalise names to be sent to the prime minister.

“The names will be sent to the PM’s Office this week,” he said, adding that over 500 candidates had applied for the said jobs and after a lengthy process, at least 108 candidates were thoroughly interviewed by the search committee in various sessions.

“Now, everything has been completed and within the next two days, the committee will meet again last time to finalise names,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the absence of regular heads, the said universities are being run by additional charge holders. It is relevant to note here that IIUI rector Dr Masoom Yasinzai completed his tenure in September last year followed by QAU Vice Chancellor Dr Mohammad Ali and AIOU Vice Chancellor Dr Ziaul Qayyum, who completed their tenures in November.

Speaking to Dawn, an official of the education ministry said a senior faculty member of AIOU Prof Dr Nasir Mahmood has been looking after the affairs of the university on a temporary basis while Higher Education Commission Executive Director Dr Shaista Sohail has been looking after the affairs of the QAU as a temporary VC. Similarly, he said at the IIUI, the university’s president has been running the institution.

“There is no crisis-like situation and all three universities are being run smoothly and soon we will appoint two VCs and a Rector,” the official said. It is relevant to note here, media reports had alerted the education ministry in September – before the completion of tenures of the said heads – to start the process of making timely appointments. But, the university failed in this regard. “We are expecting that there will be no more delay. Hopefully, soon we will have our regular VC,” a QAU faculty member said.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2023