KARACHI, Aug 19: Teacher representatives in the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) senate and members of the Vice-Chancellor Search Committee have appealed to other members of the 18-member senate of the university to take serious notice of a letter written by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman to the president, the chancellor of federally-run universities in the country.

Highlighting their concern over the persistent delay in the appointment of a permanent vice chancellor, the Fuuast senate members, Prof Nasir Abbas and Prof Seema Naz Siddiqui, and members of the VC Search Committee Dr Tausif Ahmed Khan and Prof Dr Mohammad Zahid said in a press statement that the committee with Dr Javaid Laghari as its convener held numerous meetings for six months in Islamabad and short-listed four suitable candidates out of 49 aspirants.

The process was completed under rigorous personal inspection by the convener himself. Dr Laghari is on record showed his content over the proceedings of the body and the senate of the university in this regard, said the statement.

Later, it added, the Fuuast senate recommended three candidates for the post of the vice chancellor. However, Dr Laghari in a recent letter to the chancellor requested him to reject the senate recommendations as, according to Dr Laghari, “none of the candidates adequately qualifies for position and that the chancellor may appoint an interim VC for the university”.

Dr Laghari’s request for an interim instead of a permanent VC as stipulated under the university ordinance and as mandated by the search committee is not only waste of the varsity’s limited resources and time but also against the set principles of HEC itself, according to the agitating Fuuast senate members.

The teaching and non-teaching staff of the university were extremely upset over the delay in the appointment of a permanent vice chancellor of the university, they said, and vowed to resist moves for an interim VC.