GIVEN that most bureaucrats in our country are not really known for contributions to pedagogical excellence, it seems like a good idea to keep them away from the administration of higher education institutions and let professional academics do the job. This issue has flared up in Sindh in recent days, with teaching staff at public sector universities on strike since Thursday to protest what they see as an encroachment on the autonomy of their institutions via a proposed change to the Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws Act that will allow non-PhD candidates and bureaucrats to be appointed vice-chancellors of higher learning institutions. Their stance has been endorsed by the Higher Education Commission, whose chairman has criticised the plan as a “retrogressive step which will not only have serious consequences on the academic standards, but would also affect academic freedom and critical thinking”. Clearly, there needs to be reconsideration of its consequences.

Of all the challenges faced by higher education institutions in Sindh it is strange that the provincial government chose to focus its energies on who should oversee their affairs. After all, its concern for the welfare of higher education institutions could have been much better demonstrated by, for example, increasing the size of its budget for the sector and by providing much-needed resources to assist the universities under its purview in competing globally for the pursuit of academic excellence. Instead, while most public universities in the province paint a picture of neglect and general apathy, the Sindh government made it a bigger priority to make it easier to appoint individuals who do not meet commonly held standards for academic rigour to head their administrative affairs. How this will help higher education is difficult to understand. It is no wonder that key stakeholders are up in arms about the proposal. The provincial authorities should heed their concerns.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025