ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: Two girls colleges of the capital city are being run without administrative heads — principals — due to which teachers, students and discipline of the institutions is being affected, Dawn has learnt.

The two colleges are Model Postgraduate College for Girls, F-7/2 and Model Postgraduate College for Girls, F-7/4.

A senior officer of the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development (CAD) said that the principal of the F-7/2 college, Rehana Shabbir, retired two months ago on October 8, while principal of F-7/4 college, Ghazala Khalid, retired last month on November 23.

“It’s like a ship without a captain,” commented the CAD official and further added, “F-7/2 and F-7/4 colleges are being run by vice principles Talat Samiullah and Nighat Zaidi. Students, teachers and parents are suffering because immediate decisions regarding the study schedule cannot be made,” he said.

“There is mishandling of college affairs as no one has the authority to monitor the performance of the teaching and non-teaching staff. Vice principals of the respective colleges are handling the college affairs but they have no power to take major decisions,” he said.

Major decisions include scheduling additional classes, if students are lagging behind the course schedule.

A teacher at F-7/2 College said: “More than 2/3 syllabus remains and no extra classes have been scheduled for students to catch up on the unfinished course work.”

CAD officials said that the people sitting in this office (CAD Ministry) are deliberately delaying the posting of the principals because they have not found the right people who would be complacent with the Ministry’s orders, regarding admissions, projects and recruitment of teachers.

A faculty member of the college said: “When it comes to taking crucial decisions, there is no one authorised to take them. This situation disheartens not only the teachers that are more than 100 in each college and above 3,000 students, but also the parents.”

Shahid Nazir, a parent, visited the F-7/2 campus recently and found that there was no authorised person who could look into a matter regarding his daughter.

One college teacher remarked that a postgraduate level college is unfortunately at the mercy of CAD.

These colleges cater for the educational needs of students in as many as 26 disciplines. Such diverse colleges certainly need competent principals, said the teacher.

The teacher added that the academic and administrative affairs of the college are being run without proper line of action.

Joint Secretary CAD Rafique Tahir while talking to Dawn said that secretary CAD Riffat Shaheen Qazi had conducted interviews of 10 candidates and the vacancy would be filled by Wednesday.

“Both principals will be appointed purely on merit and seniority basis and after that all issues will be resolved,” he said.