The KPK Government finally decided to re-advertise positions of the Vice-Chancellors
The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has finally decided to re-advertise positions of Vice-Chancellors of the public sector universities where these positions are lying vacant for quite some time. This decision was made on last Friday when cabinet rejected a list of panels finalised by the caretaker government seeking appointment of Vice Chancellors for 19 public sector universities in the province. This was confirmed by the Minister for Higher Education Meena Khan Afridi while talking to the media.
He added that the cabinet in its meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, rejected the list of panels finalized by the caretaker government for appointing Vice Chancellors of 19 public sector universities in the province. During the last Friday meeting, the cabinet reviewed 19 panels comprising of 57 names, presented by the Academic Search Committee formed by the caretaker government.
The vacant positions of Vice-Chancellors were advertised during the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf when Mahmood Khan was the Chief Minister. The Academic Search Committee for the appointment of Vice-Chancellors conducted interviews of the aspiring candidates for Vice Chancellors of 19 universities from January 22 to 26.
A section of the print media revealed that the KPK cabinet raised concerns, noting that the Academic Search Committee had initiated the appointment process for Vice Chancellors without securing approval from the Election Commission of Pakistan, thereby violating established regulations. Following an extensive discussion, the cabinet decided to reject the proposed panels and form a new Academic Search Committee to select appropriate candidates.
The Minister for Higher Education KPK told the media that there were many loopholes in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act, 2012, especially pertaining to the appointment of Vice-Chancellors.
“We will soon amend KPK Universities Act, 2012, to remove the flaws,” he said. He added that government wanted to appoint competent Vice-Chancellors to steer the universities out of the existing financial and administrative problems.
According to official documents, the proposed list of Vice-Chancellors included nomination of Vice Chancellors for Abbottabad Science and Technology University, Gomal University DI Khan, Khushhal Khattak University Kirk, University of Agriculture DI Khan, Lucky Marwat University, Hazara University, Mardan Engineering University, Swat Engineering University, Agricultural University Swat, Shangla University, Veterinary University Swat, Peshawar University, Engineering University Peshawar, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, Nowshera University, Kohat University, Bannu University, and Women University Swabi.
