PESHAWAR: Provincial president of Jamaat-e-Islami, Abdul Wasi, has urged the provincial government to address the financial, administrative and academic challenges in the public sector universities as it is adversely affecting higher education and research activities.
Speaking after a meeting with a representative delegation of universities on Wednesday, he said the timely resolution of these issues was essential to ensure the uninterrupted training and education of future generations.
He said teachers should be relieved of financial hardships so they could perform their professional responsibilities with greater dedication and peace of mind.The JI leader said public universities in the province, particularly the University of Peshawar, Islamia College University, and the University of Agriculture Peshawar, had been facing severe financial and administrative crises for several years, which had negatively affected higher education and research.
He called on the provincial government to announce an immediate bailout package to help universities overcome their financial difficulties.Referring specifically to the University of Peshawar, he said its employees and pensioners had not received their salaries and pensions for several months and demanded that all outstanding payments be released without further delay.
The JI leader also urged the government to address staff shortages in public universities by making permanent appointments instead of relying on ad hoc recruitment. He stressed that vice chancellors and other senior administrative officials should be appointed strictly on merit and that all vacant administrative positions should be filled on a permanent basis.
Abdul Wasi said that instead of restricting the autonomy of universities through grant-in-aid mechanisms, the government should allocate adequate budgetary resources to each university.
He called for the immediate release of funds for research and other academic activities to enable universities to effectively perform their core role in education, innovation, and research.
