The future of 2,400 students at the University of Mianwali (UoM) is uncertain after it was revealed that the institute does not exist in the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) list of accredited institutes.
In September 2012, a sub-campus of the University of Sargodha (UoS) was established at the MA block of government degree college Mianwali. 7 years later, Punjab’s Higher Education Department (PHED) notified the establishment of UoM on August 29, 2019.
As a result, the sub-campus of UoS became UoM.
However, UoM does not meet the basic requirements of a university. It does not even have a regular Vice-Chancellor (VC). Dr. Shabbar Attique, the VC of the University of Gujrat (UoG), has been overseeing the administrative matters of UoM. Dr. Shabbar visits UoM just once a month.
UoM has more than 2,400 students and departments such as computer science, physics, zoology mathematics, chemistry, business administration, English, and Urdu. The university does not have faculties of geology, international relations, history, botany, Islamic studies, Pakistan studies, economics, commerce, sociology, psychology, and political science.
Moreover, the UoM has not been able to appoint permanent faculty in different departments. So far, part-time visiting professors have been teaching the students. UoM does not have a bank account either. The administration of UoM has not made any attempt to acquire land for a proper campus and the MA block of government degree college is unable to accommodate 2,400 students.
Furthermore, the PHED has not notified the syndicate of UoM and it remains incomplete. The incomplete syndicate has not been able to approve a monogram of the institute since its inception. All these tasks will remain incomplete until the appointment of a permanent VC.
The unfortunate story first came to light in December 2019 when the undergraduate students of UoM wanted to apply for scholarships under the Ehsaas program and were shocked to realize that their university did not appear in the list of HEC recognized institute eligible for the said program.
Dr. Abdul Majeed Khan Niazi, the university’s coordinator, demanded from the provincial government to appoint a permanent VC, provide 300 acres of land, recruit permanent faculty members, and inaugurate new departments.
Via: Dawn
