ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training and Higher Education Commission (HEC) have developed serious differences over the holding of a selection board for appointing the commission’s executive director (ED), which was slated to be held on Thursday (today).

Both the education ministry and the HEC are leveling allegations and raising concerns against each other.

The commission was all set to hold a meeting of the selection board today, but in a late night development, the HEC chairman decided to postpone it. Earlier on Wednesday, the education ministry had requested all members of the commission to ask the HEC chairman not to hold the selection board meeting.

The HEC officials were of the view that the education ministry had no mandate to get the meeting of the HEC’s selection board postponed, which was being called on the direction of the Islamabad High Court.

Meeting scheduled for today postponed in late night development; secretary, incumbent executive director exchange hot-worded e-mails

“We are an autonomous body and the ministry cannot interfere in our matters unnecessarily,” said a senior HEC officer, adding that Education Secretary Wasim Ajmal Chaudhry is a member of the commission and has no authority to force the HEC to postpone the meeting.

Sources said the education secretary, through an email addressed to all commission members, issued a charge-sheet type allegation against the HEC chairman.

“I am constrained to write this email to you all to bring to your notice the governance of HEC through a ‘one-man show’, defying the approved policies of the commission and avoiding the collective wisdom of the commission on critically-important areas affecting the repute and impact of the commission as the governing body of HEC,” the federal secretary said.

He stated that 11 members of the commission were notified two months back and he had been requesting the HEC chairman time and again to immediately hold a meeting, which was not accepted and was only scheduled hurriedly [for October 12] when he sent a letter to the chairman to postpone the selection board meeting so that guidance of the commission members may be first sought on this critically-important position.

The secretary stated that it was the prerogative of the newly-selected members as to how they constituted a selection board for this position and what kind of selection criteria they approved for shortlisting and scrutinising the candidates.

“An old-style archaic way of arbitrary selection through lobbying and personal relation will have serious detrimental effects upon the performance of the HEC management,” he alleged, adding that he along with the secretary science and technology will be attending the Senate meeting of the Comsats university presided over by the president of Pakistan, making the HEC Selection Board incomplete.

The secretary also alleged that the HEC chairman was flagrantly violating even the approval conveyed by the competent authority, who is the prime minister, by not informing and adopting one newly-appointed member of the commission due to his own whims, he claimed.

The secretary further said the chairman suspended two approved policies of the commission regarding affiliation of new colleges with public-sector universities and stopping varsities from availing “type 1 affiliation policy with foreign universities”.

“The HEC chairman had absolutely no authority to suspend or stop implementation of policies duly approved by the commission without seeking prior approval from the commission,” he said.

“It has also been observed that the HEC chairman created senior positions of members in vertical hierarchy of the commission management by rescinding an earlier approved commission policy…such unilateral decisions which have significant impact upon the functioning of HEC without consulting the commission members has become a trait of chairman to run the HEC in a whimsical manner. He also raised questions over non approval of budget of the HEC from the commission,” the education secretary said.

“It appears that the HEC chairman has an intention of using the commission members as rubber stamp who would condone all his illegal acts without any justification,” he added.

In response to the education secretary’s email, HEC Executive Director Awais Ahmed also sent an email to all commission members, saying: “the HEC doesn’t support both the contents and language of the primary email initiated by the Secretary Education as it amounts to misunderstanding between the two public institutions. With reverence, HEC would like to reiterate that it stands for the rule of law and is answerable to its Commission, Government, and the public at large. While a detailed and annotated response to the email [allegation and concerns of secretary] will be forwarded in due course of time, I would like to share some of the facts about the process and selection of the Executive Director HEC.”

Sharing the HEC’s position and background of the selection board, Mr Ahmed said it was the mandate of the Higher Education Commission to hold a meeting of the selection board.

He said the Islamabad High Court on August 24, 2023 suspended the order of the then acting ED, and directed the HEC to place letter of appointment for appointing a permanent executive director within a period of one month - October 13, 2023.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023