In the absence of a permanent chairman in the Higher Education Commission, interviews for the post of executive director of the commission will be held on Thursday, October 23. The arbitrary criteria adopted for shortlisting, non-transparent and selection of candidates without verification or scrutiny can affect the validity of the selection process for such an important post.
Out of 74 candidates for the post of executive director, 46 candidates have scored 50 percent or more marks. However, only 15 candidates who have scored 66 percent or more marks have been shortlisted. Among the 15 candidates who were shortlisted, Rubina Farooq and Muhammad Tufail scored 92 marks, Attaullah Shah scored 88.5 marks, Muhammad Zakaria Zakir scored 85 marks, Jahan Bakht scored 78.5 marks, Yasir Ayaz scored 78 marks, Ziaul Haq scored 77.5, Faisal Ahmed Khan scored 76, Jamil Ahmed scored 73.5, Humayun Sattar scored 68.5, Muhammad Ali Sheikh, Shahid Mahmood Baig and Muhammad Raza Chohan scored 67, Zahid Hussain Khund scored 66.5, and Qaiser Abbas scored 66 marks.
Interestingly, on the basis of controversial scoring, several important candidates, including former IBA Karachi dean Huma Baqai, Vice Chancellor Balochistan University Zahoor Ahmed Bazai, Vice Chancellor Karachi University Dr. Khalid Iraqi, former vice chancellors of two Sindh universities Dr. Madad Ali Shah and Syeda Zia Batool, including acting executive director of the HEC Muhammad Mazhar Saeed, were eliminated from the executive director’s race.
Muhammad Mazhar Saeed stood at 68th position and secured only 20 marks. However, he said that he was the first candidate but withdrew his name when additional information was sought. When asked about the hasty process of appointment of executive director without a chairman, Acting Chairman HEC/Federal Secretary Education and Professional Training Nadeem Mehboob did not respond.
