There seems to be a lot of confusion in the process of appointing Vice Chancellors of universities, how many such incidents have come to light that have affected the prestige of this position.
Well, this is another topic, but at the moment, there is no serious effort to find out the reasons for the chaos that is going on in universities that admissions are not being made, and advertisements are being issued repeatedly. Professors of various universities are surprised that in many places, such Vice Chancellors have been appointed who have no teaching experience and have never been in front of students in their lives. There was a time when such people could not even apply for the Vice Chancellorship, but how did this happen, how did it happen, anyway it has happened. The reason for writing this column is a notification that is not only shocking but also shakes the roots of the entire system.
First, listen to this: the highest degree in education in Pakistan is PhD, after a sixteen-year degree, two years of MPhil and after that, a PhD degree in three or four years, that too is given to the lucky ones.
I have come across a notification from Bahauddin Zakaria University that I could not believe at first. I called my friends at the university to confirm it and they said, “Yes, this notification is genuine and the Syndicate has approved it on the special instructions of the Vice Chancellor.” According to this notification, “The Syndicate in its third meeting of 2025, held on August 16, approved item number 13, according to which the House has decided that whenever PhD scholars are available and willing to teach, they can be hired for one or two undergraduate courses. An honorarium of Rs. 10,000 will be given for teaching each course for the entire semester.” This notification was issued on September 15, 2025, with the signatures of the Registrar. Now just think about how stupid and even cruel those who make these decisions are. A semester is at least six months long.
If someone has been given a course, he will come to the university to teach for six months, spend petrol or take a ride, he will be given a luxurious honorarium of Rs. 10,000 on completion of the course.
It should be remembered that this miracle has been done in an era when the minimum monthly wage in Punjab is Rs. 40,000 and sanitary workers in clean Punjab are also getting Rs. 40,000 per month. A PhD scholar will come to the university to teach for Rs. 50 per day. Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of Bahauddin Zakaria University, Professor Dr. Zubair Iqbal, had issued a decree upon assuming office that social sciences subjects were not needed in the university, as they were a burden on the university budget, but when the university was criticized by teachers and academic circles, he did not act on it. At present, the practical situation is that universities have banned permanent recruitment and are running their education system through visiting faculty, although part-time teachers beyond a certain limit lead to lower educational standards, because their commitment and affiliation are not permanent.
MPhil and PhD are the basic requirements for teaching at the university level. Most PhDs have been selected, because their number has now become sufficient in each subject. A system of visiting faculty is prevalent in all universities of Punjab, in which compensation is given for each lecture, which is paid at the end of the semester, which in itself is an excess.However, for teaching a course in it, you definitely get at least 50,000–60,000 honorarium in six months, and more for more courses. In a way, this is a good way to save highly educated people from unemployment, but how can a university professor who receives a monthly salary of three, three, four lakh rupees and a vice chancellor who receives even more than that decide that if the course he teaches himself is paid 10,000 rupees per day, and if a PhD holder is a visiting faculty, he should get 10,000 after six months?
In a country where teachers are already being shamefully exploited in private schools and colleges and are employed for ten to fifteen thousand rupees, will not a new tradition of exploitation at the university level make the youth distrust education?
In a country where the salary or income of plumbers, carpenters, electricians and laborers is high and that of highly educated youth is low, is it possible to promote research, education and science and technology there. It is anyway against the prevailing laws and fundamental rights that you consider an institution like a university as your personal fiefdom and turn it into a begar camp for PhD scholars. This is an anti-educational thinking that since highly educated youth are available in abundance, it is easy to exploit them. This notification of Bahauddin Zakaria University is also discriminatory in nature because this system is not prevalent in any university. The Ministry of Higher Education Punjab should take notice of this and introduce a uniform system for visiting faculty in universities so that higher education is not disrespected and young people with advanced degrees do not fall victim to exploitation like the Bahauddin Zakaria University.
The appointment of the Vice Chancellors of universities appears to be full of confusion, how many such events have been brought to light which have tainted the prestige of this position.
Well, that is another subject, but since there is presently no serious attempt made to discover the causes of the melee which is being conducted in universities where admissions are not being made, and advertisements are being published in large numbers. The surprise among the professors of different universities is that in many institutions they have been appointed as the Vice Chancellors who have no experience of teaching and have never been in front of students in their lives. Even some people could not even apply to the Vice Chancellorship in the past, how did this happen, how did it happen, anyway it has happened. The purpose of this writing of this column is because the notification was not just shocking but it is also shaking the very bedrock of the entire system.
Being a Muslim I would like to end this with teachings of Islam which lays so much emphasis on knowledge and those who possess it. Quran is in praise of the learned:
Allah will raise those of you who have believed and those upon whom the knowledge has been bestowed by degrees (58:11). It is not only unfair to personalities to pay the PhD scholars less than unskilled laborers but also it is disloyal to the future of the nation.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to say the best of you are those who acquire knowledge and impart it. A community that looks down upon its teachers and scholars is undermining itself. Fairness, justice and respect given to the people of knowledge is a right and not a luxury. In order to become a rising nation, Pakistan has to respect her teachers, and not to take advantage of them.
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