Government College University vice chancellor, to two more universities appointed

LAHORE, July 24: In a give and take move on Saturday, Governor Sardar Latif Khosa retained his selection for the Government College University vice chancellor, but reversed his earlier decision about the University of Education VC and picked chief minister’s nominee.

Khosa stuck to his early recommendation of Prof Dr Kahleequr Rehman as vice-chancellor of the Government College University, Lahore. However, he retracted from his previous decision and appointed Prof Dr Faiz-ul-Hasan as vice-chancellor
of the University of Education, Lahore.

Both Prof Rehman and Prof Hasan are currently serving at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. The governor has appointed both of them with immediate effect for a period of four years and the Punjab higher education secretary has notified their appointment.

In a summary moved to the chief minister for the appointment of UoE VC, the governor has stated that in a meeting with the Punjab chief secretary on July 22 he had another appraisal of the credentials of the three candidates included in the panel and reached the decision that “Prof Dr Faiz-ul-Hasan is the best choice for appointment as vice-chancellor to the University of Education, Lahore”.

The governor in a summary moved to the chief minister on July 7, it may be mentioned, had stated that he had found vision and the roadmap of Prof Dr Chaudhry Jamil Anwar, who was on top in the panel of three candidates, better than the other candidates. He had stated that higher education department’s search committee had placed Prof Anwar on top of the list, but the chief minister did not offer any reason for superseding him and putting his weight behind Prof Dr Faiz-ul-Hasan.

As the governor has appointed Prof Hasan as UoE VC after a tussle with the chief minister that spanned almost four months, academics believe that both governor and chief minister’s secretariats have ignored the fact that UoE is specialised in the discipline of education. They say education is a professional qualification like engineering and hence there is a need to appoint a vice-chancellor qualified in the same discipline.

After appointment of vice-chancellors to two more universities, the University of Sargodha and Bahauddin Zakariya
University, Multan, are still without vice-chancellors. The Punjab government is to hold an inquiry into chief minister’s recommended candidate for the University of Sargodha Prof Dr Chaudhry Akram on the instructions of the governor/chancellor, while the higher education department is already holding an inquiry into governor’s recommendation of Prof Dr Muhammad Zafarullah as BZU vice-chancellor.

PROF REHMAN is the recipient of Izaz-e-Kamal, HEC Best Teacher Award 2008 and gold medal from the Pakistan Institute of Physics. He was nominated by the Nobel Committee for Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011.

Prof Rehman told Dawn that he would go to the GCU with an open heart and share his experience of foreign universities that he gained during a recent visit to European universities.

PROF HASAN told Dawn that the quality of teachers currently serving in schools and colleges was poor and he would make efforts to improve the quality of teachers to be produced by the University of Education. Prof Hasan has been serving as coordinator of University of Engineering and Technology’s Kala Shah Kaku campus since 2008. He served as dean of the Faculty of Chemical and Polymer Engineering from 2005 to 2008 and acting VC of UET in the absence of vice-chancellor Muhammad Akram. He served as Metallurgy Department chairman from 1997 to 2000.Dawn.