HYDERABAD, March 1: Senior faculty staff of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) have rejected the HEC’s new ranking list of public and private sector universities which places LUMHS at No-9, dethroning it from its previous No-2 position it has stuck to since 2006.

“There is serious misunderstanding in the process that has suddenly taken us down to No-9. Its really mind-boggling or all faculty members and academic staff,” said LUMHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Noshad Sheikh on Thursday, reacting to the ranking list announced by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for the higher education institutes (HEIs).

He said that no public sector university of the province had made it to the coveted list. He would take up the matter at relevant forum because it was simply unjustifiable how a university that was No-2 only after Aga Khan University had suddenly dropped to No-9.

“There has to be a reason for that,” he said and hinted at the possibility that the details submitted by the LUMHS might not be considered by the HEC.

At a hurriedly-called meeting, the academic staff and senior faculty expressed reservations and recorded their protest against what they termed flawed ranking process based on numbers. “It doesn’t reflect true status of HEIs,” they said.

The meeting passed a resolution, observing that ranking criteria adopted by the HEC was introduced without homework. It noted the criteria available earlier on the HEC’s website was different from the one uploaded now.

Director of Academics Prof Dr Shafi Jatoi, who chaired the meeting, said that the university had introduced an ideal system of examination of OSPE (Objective Structure Practical Examination) which was also emulated by other universities of the province.

“We introduced feedback system under which teachers’ performance is evaluated. There are no boycotts now, political elements has been controlled and admission system has been made fair,” he said.

“With these achievements we have been given the ninth position…..it is really shocking. The list should be revised because we hope there might be some mistake,” Jatoi said.

Dr Faisal Ghani Siddiqui, director of Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) of the LUMHS, told Dawn over phone that ranking was done in haste which was clearly evident from its fallacies. “The HEC has itself made changes in the ranking list,” he said.

He referred to changes made by HEC and said that Zabist was given No.11 position on the list but it was scaled up to fourth when it raised hue and cry.

“Similarly, Khyber Medical University which was fifth as per first website announcement was deleted from top 10 universities and with its deletion LUMHS got eighth position which was ninth earlier,” said Mr Siddiqui.

The HEC considers number of research papers, laboratories, computer laboratories, infrastructure, students-teacher ratio, qualification of faculty members, development, level of academic standard, while ranking universities.

He said that the list had disappointed everyone in the university and urged the HEC to revise it.