ISLAMABAD: The ‘drama’ surrounding the post of the executive director (ED) of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) continues to delay the appointment, as the commission has once again “slowed down the hiring process” to fill this position.
The post of regular ED, who acts as the principal accounting officer, fell vacant in October 2018 after the resignation of Dr Arshad Ali.
According to the rules, the post is to be filled through a competitive process. After ad-hoc arrangements, in October 2020, civil servant Dr Shaista Sohail joined the HEC as ED on a deputation basis.
She retired in August 2021 after reaching the age of superannuation. Since then, she has been holding the post as a stopgap arrangement, and she has been given six extensions so far.
Meanwhile, during the last few years, the HEC advertised the posts at least five times only to defer the process. The incumbent chairman, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, after joining HEC last year, made efforts to fill the post and initially, he was actively pursuing this case. But it seems that he too has lost interest to fill this post on an urgent basis.
In January this year, the HEC advertised the post and in response to the advertisement, at least 160 candidates applied for the job. And 18 of them were shortlisted. However, the process slowed down; a source even claimed that the process was almost halted.
In past, the HEC cancelled the appointment process by saying that it could not get a “suitable” candidate for the said post.
However, this time round, no such statement came out, but abruptly the process was “almost stopped”. “We have been waiting to know the status of this appointment for the last six months, but it seems, HEC does not want to fill this post,” said one of the candidates, requesting not to be named.
He said that HEC is a regulatory body which regulates public and private universities and it also asks universities to discourage ad-hocism.
While on the other hand, the HEC itself is running the ED Office – one of the most important offices – through ad-hocism. “How can it discourage such arrangements in universities,” the candidate questioned.
Another candidate said that the inordinate delay in the appointment of the ED raises many questions and demanded an inquiry to fix responsibility.
“The HEC management, the Ministry of Education and the Prime Minister’s Office should hold a meeting on this issue to know the reasons behind the delay,” he said and added that appointment of the ED “has become a drama and a joke.”
Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed could not be reached for his comment. However, when contacted, the HEC’s spokesperson, Aayesha Ikram, said, “After the commission’s decision, the position was advertised and shortlisting is already done.”
Asked when the appointment would be made, she did not give any timeline.
It is “under process”, she said. On the other hand, sources said the process was “almost halted and no serious steps were taken after the shortlisting of the candidates completed several months ago”.
