The Higher Education Commission (HEC) notified the Supreme Court on Wednesday that 66 of the 154 public Universities in the nation do not currently have a vice-chancellor (VC) or rector, or have ad hoc personnel filling these positions.
The information was disclosed during a hearing for a case submitted by the All-Public Universities BPS Teachers Association (APUBTA), which was chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and represented by Dr. Samiur Rahman, the organization’s president. The HEC presented the study in response to a petition that expressed concerns about the significant number of universities functioning without VCs appointed by law.
The situation is especially concerning in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a sizable percentage of HEIs lack permanent VCs, according to the HEC report. A comparable situation affects 16 out of 32 HEIs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 29 out of 49 HEIs in Punjab that have VCs functioning on an acting charge basis. The paper also listed open positions in important departments at various Balochistani universities.
Positively, the survey showed that most universities in Sindh have regular vice chancellors (VCs), with very few using acting VCs. Similarly, VCs are frequently on staff at all of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s universities.
The Supreme Court ordered the respective governments to hasten the process of appointing VCs and rectors to the empty seats in response to the alarming situation. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa lamented the deterioration in a number of societal domains and underlined the significance of swiftly resolving such matters.
The SC also directed the HEC to submit detailed information about the proportion of academic to administrative personnel in universities as well as the status of open director finance and examination controller jobs. The government’s funding as well as the money that universities independently earned were also subjects of the court’s inquiry.
