PESHAWAR: A Vice Chancellors’ Conference was held at the University of Peshawar on Thursday to review academic, administrative and financial challenges facing public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to develop practical recommendations for their financial sustainability.
Dr Aamer Abdullah, Member of the Advisory Council for Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, attended the conference as chief guest.
Secretary Higher Education, Archives and Libraries Abidullah Kakakhel, Special Secretary Fazal Hussain, Director Quality Assurance, Higher Education, Dr Imranullah Marwat, vice chancellors of public sector universities across the province and other senior administrative officials also attended the moot.
The conference was aimed at identifying key issues confronting public sector universities and preparing effective and practical recommendations through collective deliberation and consultation.
Addressing the conference, Dr Aamer Abdullah said education and learning were the fundamental purposes of university life. He stressed that students should be provided an environment conducive to their academic needs.
He said monitoring student activities was necessary to ensure that their time on campus was devoted to positive and constructive pursuits. He added that the government had a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of negative activities on university campuses, and university administrations should also adopt a firm approach and show no leniency in this regard.
Dr Aamer Abdullah emphasised that campuses must be kept free from undesirable activities. He also said universities needed to pay particular attention to strengthening financial governance.
Expressing concern over the existing state of internal audit systems in universities, he called for improvements to ensure effective financial oversight and accountability.
He directed university administrations to provide quality residential facilities in student hostels and further improve existing accommodation and related amenities.
Dr Aamer Abdullah said university campuses must be made free of drugs. He directed administrations to immediately approach the relevant authorities whenever assistance from the district administration or police was required, so that timely and effective support could be provided.
Highlighting the importance of the conference’s working groups, he urged the participating experts to develop practical recommendations that could be implemented effectively to address the challenges facing universities.
Referring to the historical evolution of higher education and university systems around the world, Dr Aamer Abdullah said the region had been a centre of intellectual and academic activity since ancient times. He noted that during the Gupta and Maurya periods, learning and scholarship flourished, with centres such as Nalanda and Taxila serving as important institutions of higher learning.
He said these institutions encouraged scholarly discussions and intellectual debates on a range of academic subjects. He also noted that institutions such as the University of al-Qarawiyyin played an important role in advancing knowledge and research in Islamic history.
Dr Aamer Abdullah also highlighted the role of translation movements and centres of learning and research associated with the Hijaz and Bayt al-Hikmah in promoting intellectual development and dissemination of knowledge.
He said the subsequent phase in the evolution of higher education included the medieval period, during which the concept of academic degrees gained prominence. He added that the British colonial period introduced an educational system and institutional model whose influence remained evident in the country’s teaching and learning practices.
Referring to the modern phase of university development, he said strong financial systems played a vital role in enabling leading universities around the world to achieve stability and distinction. Such institutions, he said, adopted diverse strategies to strengthen their financial resources and reduce dependence on external funding, allowing them to invest more effectively in research, academic development and competitiveness.
He observed that the modern era of higher education was increasingly defined by endowment funds, research and academic competition.
Dr Aamer Abdullah urged university authorities to adapt to this modern phase of higher education and take effective measures to strengthen financial sustainability, promote research and improve academic standards.
Describing the conference as an important opportunity to deliberate on fundamental challenges and develop actionable recommendations, he said the services of a consultancy firm could also have been engaged for the purpose. However, he observed that the collective effort of experienced university experts to formulate recommendations through consultation could prove to be a significant milestone in improving institutional performance, academic activities and governance across public sector universities.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Peshawar Prof Dr Johar Ali, Abidullah Kakakhel and other senior officials of the Higher Education Department also addressed the conference.
The conference’s working groups deliberated on a range of key issues confronting universities, including academic and administrative challenges, governance reforms, implementation of anti-harassment policies, measures to eliminate drugs from campuses, financial constraints, establishment and strengthening of endowment funds, and activation of alumni associations.
The groups also presented their recommendations and proposals for addressing these issues.
