Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has drafted a bill to reduce the autonomy of the universities. The bill will soon be tabled in the KP Assembly.
Named KP Universities Amendment Bill 2020, the bill has suggested bringing the syndicates of universities under the Provincial Services Rules, practically putting an end to their autonomy, and lower the eligibility criteria for the appointment of Vice-Chancellors (VCs).
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The bill has suggested Masters degree holder with 17 years of teaching experience to be eligible for appointment as a VC.
Under the current criteria, a VC must have a Ph.D. and 15 publications to their name in addition to having 17 years of teaching experience.
Once the 2020 bill gets approved, a VC would be appointed for a period of 4 years and the retirement age of VCs will be fixed at 61 years.
Previously, the PTI government had passed the University Act Amendment Bill 2016, limiting the tenure of a VC to 3 years while fixing the retirement age at 65.
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Furthermore, the 2020 bill has suggested abolishing the post of Pro-VC. The 2016 bill had notified the post of Pro-VC tasked with managing the university’s affairs in the absence of a VC.
Now, the KP governor, the Chancellor of all public universities, has been conferred with the authority to appoint Acting VCs from the existing administrations of the universities.
Moreover, the KP governor is entitled to appoint bureaucrats from the Provincial Administrative Service (PAS) and the Provincial Management Service (PMS) as the Acting VCs of universities all over the province.
One of the worst decision of KP government. I hope Punjab will stay away from it. All over the world VC post is exclusively given to PHD with a lot research background. Now in KP anyone with a Master degree with no publication can become VC. KP and Pakistan is going backwards under the able leadership of this selected government.
VC is an administrative post and Phd is an academic/research qualification. It is not necessary that a PhD will be a good administrator. I was a student of Gomal University, Dikhan. Among all ex-VCs, Ali Khan and Qazi Hifz ur Rehman were the best (both non PhD), and from bad to worst all were PhDs.
A decade ago in a similar attempt even Howard University appointed its head, a fresh MBA, because academic excellence and effective administration are 2 different areas and many people don’t maintain balance.