LAHORE: The Punjab University’s Senate on Thursday held a meeting after 11 years and took up the long-standing issue of student-teacher ratio and to meet modern standards.

The Senate held its last meeting in 2007. Since then, the previous administrations had failed to convene its meeting which is mandatory twice a year.

Sources believe that the previous administrations had deliberately avoided holding the Senate meetings for ‘political reasons’.

The 351st meeting of Senate was chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad Akhtar. Over 100 senators attended the meeting that approved the university’s 13 successive budget estimates.

There are some 45,000 students in the PU and 1,100 teachers – one teacher for about 40 students.

Takes up matter of student-teacher ratio

“The Senate wants to adopt a student-teacher ratio in accordance with modern teaching standards approving hiring of more teachers to bring this ratio to at least 30 students per teacher,” an official told Dawn.

The Senate also took up the Tenure Track System (TTS) which got controversial of late as some TTS faculty was also engaged in administrative posts in violation of the Higher Education Commission’s directive.

It approved adjustment of sabbatical leaves of the faculty members working on TTS and raising minimum qualification for appointment of lecturer and assistant professors according to the HEC notification.

The Senate approved PU’s Rs9bn budget for the year 2018-19 and also gave ex-post facto approval to the budgets for the previous fiscal years from 2007 to 2019.

The Senate also gave approval revision in criteria and honorarium for professor emeritus and establishment of Technology Park in Punjab University College of Information Technology (PUCIT). The administration in March 2015 had announced to hold the senate meeting on April 1 but they could not do so due to litigation before the Lahore High Court.

According to the University of the Punjab Act 1973, two bodies would play pivotal role to run the affairs of the university, having total 11 authorities. The executive body or the 17-member Syndicate, among other things, would also approve appointments of faculty members besides looking after other administrative matters. At present, the Syndicate comprises of 15 members. The 200-member senate would also recommend approval (to the Syndicate) of annual statements of accounts and budget estimates, besides appointing two members to the Syndicate.

Senate members include the PU VC, members of Syndicate, deans, directors of institutes, principals of the constituent colleges, university professors and professor emeritus, chairmen of the teaching departments, five registered graduates to be elected by all such graduates amongst themselves, five persons in arts, sciences and the professionals nominated by chancellor, all the chairmen of the board of intermediates, principals of affiliated colleges, registrar, controller, treasurer, librarian, a nominee from the PHEC, HED, one member of provincial assembly from each district of the province.

Under the university charter, the Senate should have at least two meetings every year to approve budget estimates and revised budget estimates.

Prof Akhtar, addressing to a press conference after the Senate meeting, said the administration would make all statutory bodies functional and they had held all bodies meetings within two months to streamline university affairs and ensure transparency.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2018