PESHAWAR: The Higher Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has issued instructions to all government universities and degree-awarding institutions of the province to immediately postpone the meetings of their scheduled selection boards.
According to the official notification issued by the Higher Education Department, this decision will apply to all public sector universities and autonomous educational institutions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
This step by the government has been taken to bring transparency in the recruitment process in universities and ensure scrutiny under the newly formulated SOPs. The announcement has clarified that no university will be able to hold new selection boards until a formal letter of permission (NOC) is issued by the Higher Education Department.
According to sources, the decision is part of the provincial government’s policy to implement administrative and financial reforms in government institutions. Several universities in the province are currently facing severe financial difficulties, due to which the process of new recruitments and promotions has been stopped for the time being.
Under the new policy, a screening test has now been made mandatory for most of the vacancies in universities, and the government wants all selection boards to be in line with this new framework.
The decision has halted the promotions and new appointments of hundreds of teachers and administrative officers whose interviews or selection boards were scheduled in the coming days.
The Academic Staff Associations (ASAs) of universities have expressed reservations about the decision; however, the education department maintains that the move is necessary in the larger educational interest and the supremacy of merit.
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