Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Photo: File
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the summary submitted for the appointment of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman, expressing displeasure over the names proposed in the matter, sources said on Thursday.
The summary was sent back to the Federal Ministry of Education, with indications that the position could now be advertised again.
According to sources, the Prime Minister’s decision has prolonged uncertainty over the HEC leadership post, which remained vacant since July 30, 2025, after the end of the term of former President Dr Mukhtar Ahmed.
The development comes as the appointment of a permanent HEC director has been delayed for an unusually long period, with more than six months having passed since the position became vacant and the key institution continuing to operate on an ad hoc basis.
Since July 30, 2025, after the end of the mandate of the former HEC president, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, the commission has been without a permanent head.
On the same day, Federal Ministry of Education Secretary Naeem Mehboob was given additional charge as Acting Chairman of HEC.
Initially, the three-month ad hoc agreement came with assurances that a permanent appointment would be made quickly, especially after the Prime Minister constituted a search committee under the Federal Minister of Education.
Sources said that after the post was advertised, around 750 candidates applied for the post. Initially, efforts were made to select a foreign candidate.
However, the proposed incentives did not meet international standards, making them unattractive to foreign academics. As a result, the shortlist was drawn up largely from within what sources call the “local vice-chancellor bureaucracy”.
It is pertinent to note that the names conveyed to the Prime Minister included Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, Vice-Chancellor of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Dr Niaz Ahmed Akhtar, Vice-Chancellor of Quaid-e-Azam University and Dr Muhammad Ali, Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University.
Earlier, sources in the education ministry had said that a “Karachi lobby” was actively pushing for the appointment of Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi.
At the same time, education experts expressed concern that previous HEC leaders were unable to provide meaningful policy guidance, stressing that much more work was needed on financing mechanisms and long-term policy frameworks for higher education.
