ISLAMABAD: The country’s academia has shown an overwhelming interest in the lucrative post of chairman of the Higher Education Commission, as the search committee has received around 750 applications.

A hunt is also in progress for the appointment of the executive director of HEC as currently both the positions in the regulatory body of the higher education sector are lying vacant.

“Education Ministry and Search Committee received overwhelming response… we received around 750 applications for post of Chairman,” said an official of the Ministry of Education. He said that interviews had been called from October 23.

It is relevant to note here that the post of chairman fell vacant on July 30, after the expiry of the tenure of Dr Mukhtar Ahmed.

In June this year, the prime minister formed a search committee headed by Federal Education Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and comprising state minister for education and several education experts. But, the search committee is yet to complete its task.

However, officials of the education ministry said that now the process was heading towards a conclusion and soon HEC will have a regular chairman.

Currently, the secretary education is looking after the affairs of chairman office while the adviser planning and development HEC is looking after the affairs of the ED office. The post of ED fell vacant after the resignation of Dr Ziaul Qayyum recently.

“The process of hiring regular ED is in progress by HEC. We received around 70 applications for this post,” said an official of HEC.

The ED, besides his executive job, also serves as the principal accounting officer of HEC, which has the portfolio of billions of rupees funding of development projects and recurring grant.

“Both position of Chairman and ED should be filled as soon as possible. As country’s higher education sector requires special attention,” the official said, adding that the new management of HEC will have to take many initiatives to bring improvement in country’s higher education.

The official said many universities had been facing funding and administrative issues while there was a lot of work required to be done at HEC secretariat as well.

He said there were over 270 public and private educational institutions in the country with 140 campuses, but enrollment was facing a little decline, which was a matter of concerns. “There is a need to bring improvement in quality of research and researchers should be encouraged to do work in such areas, which could be beneficial for the country which is confronting many challenges including rapid climate change,” the official said.

The appointment process of chairman HEC is being dealt by education ministry and search committee while process of appointment of ED is being carried out by HEC.

When contacted, HEC in its official response regarding appointment of ED stated: “As many as 74 applications were received for the position of ED. The selection process is underway and will be completed soon.”

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2025