LAHOR E: The provincial government has constituted a five-member search committee for the selection of chairman of the proposed Higher Education Commission, Punjab.

The committee, however, did not invite the candidates for interview taking a plea that the government should first resolve the issue of HEC Punjab legislation.

Last month, the HEC Punjab Ordinance had been issued and was recently tabled in the Punjab Assembly as a bill. The bill wasreferred to the PA Standing Committee on Education for debate and developing an implementable law.

It is learnt that the committee members are: Former vice-chancellor Muhammad Akram, former vice-chancellor of the Government College, Lahore, Prof Dr Khalid Aftab, LUMS vice-chancellor Dr Suhail Naqvi, Punjab higher education department secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal and additional chief secretary Mubasher Raza.

The Punjab government is facing a serious reaction against the constitution of the HEC Punjab and its functions. The government has,against the recommendation of the Vice Chancellors` Committee, nominated Punjab higher education department (HED) secretary as secretary to the HEC Punjab.

The vice chancellors believe that the appointment of HED administrative secretary as HEC Punjab secretary will defeat the very purpose of the commission.

The ordinance stipulates that the administrative secretaries of Punjab health, agriculture and finance departments will serve as its members.

`If the Punjab HED secretary will serve as Punjab HEC secretary,then there was no need of establishing the commission as the varsities will remain under the control of the bureaucracy, which has failed to deliver anything worthwhile at the Punjab HED and the state of affairs at public sector colleges in the province speak volumes about this,` a vice chancellor told this reporter while commenting on the contents of the ordinance.

Different vice chancellors have also objected to the inclusion of private sector because a Punjab HEC function says that it will submit to the government the recurring and development budgets for public and private sector institutions.

Other stakeholders have also reacted against the composition of the Punjab HEC and apprehend that the current composition would be tantamount to attacking the autonomy of institutions of higher learning.

TERMINATED: The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has terminated the services of law department faculty member Abid Husain Imam on charges of sexually harassing a female student.

LUMS VC Dr Suhail Naqvi confirmed that the faculty member has been sacked on the instructions of the federal ombudsperson.The Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace had directed the LUMS to remove Abid Imam while setting aside the decision of the LUMS inquiry committee.

A female student at LUMS` Sheikh Ahmed Hasan School of Law, had filed an appeal with the ombudsperson against the decision of the inquiry committee, alleging that Abid Imam remarked of `mala fide intention to harass her` and then `touched her shoulder`. The inquiry committee had termed teacher`s action `unbecoming` of a teacher and had directed the accused to write an apology to the student. The committee and the LUMS VC reportedly had not imposed any penalty on the teacher.