ISLAMABAD: The state of affairs prevailing in the educational institutions across the country on Tuesday forced a group of teachers to approach the Supreme Court by highlighting that a high proportion of public sector universities is functioning without legally appointed vice chancellors (VCs).

The petition has been moved by the All Public Universities BPS Teachers Association (APUBTA) through its president, Dr Samiur Rahman. The petition, moved through Advocate Umer Ijaz Gillani, highlights that 24 out of 34 public universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 32 out of 50 in Punjab, six in Sindh and two in Balochistan do not currently have vice-chancellors as required by the law.

The APUBTA is a registered body of BPS university teachers from across the country. According to the association, its primary objective is to promote and safeguard the rights of BPS teachers by promoting good governance, fair administration, and the rule of law within the university sector across the country.

Named in the petition as respondents are the federal government through the education secretary, the president of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), and the governments of Punjab, KP, Sindh and Balochistan.

Govt, HEC ‘controlling’ varsities through acting vice chancellors, ad hoc appointments, SC told

The non-appointment of VCs is not a one-off situation but a part of a systematic pattern, the APUBTA claims in the petition, stressing that the respondents have a de facto policy of not making timely appointments to the highest posts in the university system.

Instead, the respondents prefer to “control” the universities through “acting vice chancellors”, who hold their office till further orders, it said.

The APUBTA said the non-appointment of legally tenured vice chancellors adversely affects the administrative structure of public-sector universities because VCs play a key role in all the major decision-making bodies of the universities.

Not only is this a blatant violation of various statutes, but it is also eroding academic freedom within the universities and therefore connected with the enforcement of the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan, it said.

The association has sought a direction from the Supreme Court to order

respondents to immediately fill the posts of VCs in all the public universities in accordance with the law and declare that the appointments to tenured-based posts cannot be made through “till further orders” notifications.

The respondents should also ensure that the key decision-making bodies of the universities — such as the board of governors, syndicate or executive council — should convene meetings regularly, meaningfully and according to the law, it said.

The petition contended that public universities were supposed to be governed by a statute duly enacted by the competent legislature.

Every statute has embodied a complete mechanism for the smooth administration of the universities’ affairs.

The association said that the administration of the affairs of the universities in non-compliance with the statute concerned will not only give way to corrupt practices and maladministration but also defeat the very purpose of the creation of the universities. Therefore, the purpose for which the universities are created will not be served and the public exchequer will be burdened for no purpose.

Moreover, ad hocism created by the non-appointment of vice chancellors is seeping through the entire university structure, the APUBTA regretted, adding that not only were universities operating without VCs but most other significant tenure-based positions — such as directors, deans and chairpersons — of different departments and academies within the universities have lost their sanctity of tenure.

The educators argued that this situation detracts from the legislative intent to ensure autonomy and protect the academic freedom essential for a thriving educational environment.

An organic reading of the entire statutory scheme of the universities reveals that the legislative object was to secure the freedom of professors.

The aim was to create an environment where those entrusted with research and teaching could do so without regard for favour or fear.

The association also insisted that acts of the parliament and the provincial assemblies governing the universities do not allow ad hoc appointments to key positions within them.

It feared that the widespread pattern of non-appointment or delay in the appointment of university VCs is leading to a collapse of good governance in higher education, adding that the tendency also amounts to violation of the dictum of the Supreme Court’s judgements.

The ad hoc and “till further order” postings on key positions are badly affecting the academic freedom that the statutes require to be ensured and promoted, the association contended, adding that education without ensuring academic freedom is not meaningful education as contemplated in the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024