ISLAMABAD: After a delay of at least one year and multiple hurdles, the appointment of vice-chancellor for the Allama Iqbal Open University in Islamabad was approved on Wednesday by President Arif Alvi, who appointed Dr Nasir Mahmood as the new head of the varsity.

President Alvi, who is also the chancellor of the university, had interviewed three shortlisted candidates – Prof Dr Nasir Mahmood, Prof Dr Suleman Tahir, and Prof Dr Mohammad Ali – for the coveted post earlier this week. On Wednesday, he approved Dr Mahmood’s name for the VC post.

An education ministry official said a notification for the appointment would be issued soon.

“Since the President has approved his [Dr Mahmood] name he is going to be the new VC; the notification is merely a formality. As soon as we receive the approval file, we will issue the notification accordingly,” he added.

Dr Nasir Mahmood to head varsity; notification soon

After the three-year tenure of Dr Ziaul Qayum ended in October 2022, Dr Nasir Mahmood – then the senior dean – was appointed as the acting VC.

Last year, the education ministry initiated the hunt for a new VC and interviewed several candidates interested in the job. A summary was moved to the federal government for onward submission to the president. In that summary, the name of Dr Qayum was at the top of the list. However, the government in an abrupt move decided to start the recruitment process anew. This move garnered criticism, and it was alleged that the government wanted to appoint its ‘blue-eyed’ candidate to the AIOU VC slot.

The ministry, however, claimed that the process was rebooted due to technical reasons. “All three candidates were shortlisted on merit,” it had said at the time.

After the summary was forwarded to President Alvi for his approval, he raised objections and sent it back. He asked for clarification from the ministry regarding some questions: why the process was initiated afresh and where was the score sheet on the basis of which the previous process was halted.

In its response, the ministry told the president that the process was restarted due to technical reasons and managed to satisfy President Alvi regarding its recruitment process. Subsequently, the president called in the new nominees for an interview and approved the appointment.

Interestingly, Dr Qayum, who was atop the previous list, was not among the panel of three candidates recommended to the president by the search committee. It was the same committee that had placed him at the top of the list.

It may be noted that the former VC had also filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court against the government for starting the process afresh and not including his name in the panel without any “cogent reason”.

The AIOU is the country’s largest distance-learning university with a large number of students.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2023