Karachi: The controlling authority of public universities in Sindh has demanded an extraordinary meeting of the vice-chancellors of all public universities in the province on December 29, according to the Chief Minister of Sindh. The heads of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and the Sindh Higher Education Commission have also been invited to this meeting.
According to sources, in addition to the administrative and financial matters of public universities, the establishment of digital libraries, research standards, and collaboration points with industries in the universities are part of the agenda.
The reason for the holding of this extraordinary meeting is the possibility of postponing the Senate meeting of Karachi University on the same day, as all the vice-chancellors of public universities have been instructed to participate in this meeting by the Chief Minister’s House.
It is said that the Chief Minister of Sindh wishes to improve the affairs of the relevant universities by consulting with each vice-chancellor.
On the other hand, after a delay of four years, the list of principals of government colleges in Karachi and their principals has been provided to Karachi University by the Provincial Department of Colleges.
This list was received by the Registrar of Karachi University on Monday, and immediately the administration of Karachi University, with the approval of the vice-chancellor, has announced the schedule of elections to the Senate on the seats of principals. These elections, keeping in mind the University Act, have been scheduled for January 25.
It should be noted that the Principals’ insistence, especially the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA), that these elections be held, was being kept hidden that the Department of College Education was not providing Karachi University with a list of voters and candidates.
According to the Department of College Education, in this regard, it should be remembered that in the last four years, Karachi University wrote 11 different letters to the department, but no reply was received to any of them, and the required list was not provided to Karachi University by the College Education Department, and this is why these elections were delayed and college professors themselves were deprived of representing their institutions due to the department’s inefficiency or negligence.
Meanwhile, according to college sources, a written letter was sent to the principals of colleges by the central convener of SPLA, providing information on the schedule of the meeting to be held on Tuesday and giving the news of better results, but nothing was mentioned regarding the Senate elections.