ISLAMABAD, July 16: University teachers have accused the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of undue interference into the affairs of seats of higher learning and demanded that the autonomous status of public-sector universities be respected.

Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) President Prof Sarwar Nasim said universities were autonomous bodies and they should have the freedom of making decisions according to their requirements.

He said universities had their Senate, academic council and syndicate which took decisions on important issues, but the HEC was strangulating the autonomy of all public-sector universities in the country.

When asked what role the HEC should have, Peshawar University Teachers Association president Nasir Jamal Khattak said the commission should provide only guidelines and leave it to the universities to implement the same in accordance with their needs.

Micro level interference in university affairs, he said, would add to the prevailing uncertainty in these institutions and impair their performance.

Replying to a question, the FAPUASA representatives said the HEC officials were nonprofessionals and unaware of the requirements and problems of universities. Their decisions are very harmful, they added.

They specifically targeted the attitude of HEC Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman and executive director Dr Sohail Naqvi. They said the HEC officials failed to honour their commitments made with the FAPUASA in April 2006.

They took strong exception to appointment of generals and army officers on various posts including that of vice-chancellor in the education sector.

“Generals are never eligible to become vice-chancellors,” they said and demanded immediate removal of such people.

“As we cannot become corps commanders, so they cannot become VCs/professors,” Sarwar Nasim said.

The university teachers also complained that the HEC had focused its attention on a few disciplines of pure sciences and applied sciences, while fields like social sciences, engineering, and medicine had been neglected.

In response to a question about the much trumpeted scholarship programme, Nasir Jamal said eligible and deserving people were not being sent abroad. He criticised the eligibility criteria for these scholarships.

Earlier, teachers and senior professors representing different universities of the country assembled in Islamabad to attend a two-day meeting called to discuss issues faced by the seats of higher learning.

The FAPUASA general body unanimously agreed that all public- sector universities would observe black day on August 17 to protest against the “blackmailing attitude” of the HEC.

On the day teachers would wear black bands, while black banners would be displayed against the failure of the HEC in fulfilling its commitments.

Similarly, on August 22 hunger strike camps would be staged in all the universities.

In case the demands were not met, another general body meeting would be convened to chalk out future line of action, the FAPUASA representatives said.

Participants of the meeting also criticised the role of HEC officials and said the latter had started blackmailing the universities in order to subdue them to adopt the HEC directives, adding they had been warned of cuts in funds if these guidelines were not implemented.

They supported the reforms but opposed the way these were being implemented. All stakeholders should be consulted before implementation of the reforms, they advised.

Peshawar University Teachers Association secretary Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, Punjab University Teachers Association president Dr Mumtaz Salik, Academic Staff Association Balochistan University secretary Dr Kalimullah Bareach, Academic Staff Association Quaid-i-Azam University general secretary Dr Mohammad Ishfaq and representatives of other universities attended the meeting.