The federal government has decided to remove the Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Tariq Banuri, from the post. The advertisement for the new chairman has also been issued by the government.
A new search committee has to be formed and the Federal Minister of Education, Rana Tanveer will lead it as the chairman. The vice-chancellors of some public universities will also be a part of the committee. They include Dr Farooq Bazi, VC Balochistan University of Technology (BUITMS), Dr Saima Hamid, VC Fatima Jinnah University (FJWU) Rawalpindi, and Dr Zia ul-Qayyum, Vice Chancellor Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU).
The new chairman is supposed to be hired under the new Amendment Act according to which their tenure will be two years.
Chairman HEC Dr Tariq Banuri was removed from his post last year in March under the same act. He was removed with immediate effect but the Islamabad High Court (IHC) restored him in January 2022 after he pleaded against his unjustified removal.
The last date for the submission of applications is 26 May, which gave the applicants four days after the advertisement. This is not a fair timeline because collecting the documents and attaining NOC from the previous institute takes considerable time. Many have criticized it but the deadline has not been extended.
Some experts are saying that Dr Banuri will most probably get an extension for ten months after 28th May, which marks the day of the completion of his tenure, until the new chairman is selected.
