By: Taimur Khan
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has violated legislation just three days after it was enacted by appointing a junior associate professor as the Pro Vice-Chancellor at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU).
According to the new law, the Pro Vice Chancellor’s term is set for three years, yet in this case, the appointment was made for only two years. The amended legislation explicitly states that an associate professor cannot hold the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor.
The provincial government issued the gazette notification for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities (Amendment) Act 2024 on January 21, 2025. Clause 7 of the Amendment Act revises Clause 12A of the previous law, extending the Pro Vice Chancellor’s term to three years and specifying that the position should be filled by one of the three senior professors.
Per the law, a professor who has served as a Dean is eligible for the Pro Vice-Chancellor role. If fewer than three professors are available at a university, one of the existing professors may be appointed. Currently, Benazir Bhutto Women’s University has no professors.
The senior associate professors are Dr Naseem Akhtar from the Department of Islamic Studies, followed by DDrZainab Amin from the same department, and DrDrarhat Amin from the Department of Bioinformatics. Nevertheless, Dr Farhat Amin was appointed as Pro Vice Chancellor for two years on January 24, 2025, just three days after the gazette notification was issued, despite the law stipulating a three-year term.
Moreover, the Act does not include provisions for associate professors about the appointment of the Pro Vice-Chancellor, yet a woman was appointed to the position as the third-ranked associate professor.
The new law states that if a university lacks a Pro Vice-Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, another university should oversee the university in the absence of its Vice-Chancellor.
When contacted, Provincial Minister for Higher Education Meena Khan Afridi acknowledged that an associate professor cannot become a Pro Vice-Chancellor. She also noted that the gazette notification was not issued on January 21 but was prepared on that date. However, available documents confirm that the notification was indeed issued on January 21.
Meena Khan Afridi further told Pakhtun Digital that the case of the associate professor in question was already under consideration and had been approved by the Chancellor. It is worth noting that the amendment act granted the Chief Minister the role of Chancellor for all universities in the province, a position previously held by the Governor.
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