KOHAT, Aug 19: Shortage of senior staff at the Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) is badly affecting the semester system. On the other hand, seats in all the 10 faculties are increased every year without meeting the criteria laid down by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

KUST Vice Chancellor Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari, when contacted, said that the universities throughout the country were facing a shortage of PhDs in the fields of management sciences and information technology.

The second problem facing universities was that the highly qualified staff preferred to work in big cities only, he said. To overcome this problem, the KUST had already sent seven staff members for PhD courses in various faculties, he added.

Similarly, the HEC had sanctioned Rs160 million for the PhD courses of 35 students from KUST, said Mr Shinwari, adding that the HEC was aware of the problem and had adopted a long-term plan to produce enough PhDs to cater to the needs of universities in the country.

The HEC had set aside Rs20 billion which would be spent on sending staff and students for various PhD courses in next three years.

Col (retd) Zafar Gul, programme director of the Preston University, which hardly fulfils any of the guidelines set by the HEC, attributed the shortcomings to lack of will of the PhDs to work in far-flung areas even if offered 50 per cent extra salary.

There were only three PhDs in the Preston University, two of who were in the management science department, he said, adding that there were no PhDs in the engineering and IT faculties.

He claimed that the standard of education in Preston was much better as compared to public sector universities and a few in the private sector.

The HEC’s guidelines demand that higher education institutions must have one professor, one associate professor, two assistant professors and two lecturers in each department. The professor and the associate professor must have PhD degrees in a relevant subject.