ISLAMABAD: In utter disappointment, the young jobless PhDs degree holdersappealed to the chief justice to take sou moto notice after the failure ofHigher Education Commission (HEC) to honour its commitment of providing‘respectable’ jobs.
In their request, a number of PhD holders complained to Chief Justice ofPakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar that the lack of jobs has caused braindrain and frustration among the educated scholars in the country.
The Quality of Assurance of Department (QAD) of the HEC has a formulaof 1:20 (one teacher and 20 students), 3 regulars PhDs for MSc and MPhilprogramme while senior PhD faculty members for PhDs and MPhil researchstudents in any department of a Pakistani university.
However, a number of universities have not fulfilled the set criteria apartfrom the negligence of the HEC to implement its rules and regulation. Thepublic sector universities have a capacity to hire around 10,000 PhDs,however, a number of positions remain vacated.
The young jobless PhD degree holders told *Pakistan Today *that the HECoffered Interim Placement of Fresh PhDs (IPFP) as an assistant professorfor one year on contract in multiple universities. According to thiscontract, the universities are bound to advertise seats for the candidateshired on the IPFP within one year to regularise them through competition ifany.
However, they said that after appointment on the IPFP, the candidates areon the mercy of the universities which exploit these PhDs. The universitiesuse delaying tactics in the selection boards, offer them visiting or adhocbasis extensions and DPL with very low wages without regularising them,they alleged.
The PhD degree holders lamented that due to such an approach adopted by theauthority, not only their precious time has been wasted but they are alsofacing financial and services loss and family sufferings, as evenuniversities are taking masters qualification candidates as lecturers andassistant professors despite the presence of PhD candidates due to thealleged policy of favouritism and nepotism, leading to low-qualityeducation in Pakistan.
According to vision 2025, HEC intends to produce 38,000 more PhDs, but hasno vision where to place current 671 candidates in spite of vacantcapacities in the existing universities, though several new universitieshave also been established across Pakistan, they added.
They appealed to the CJP that according to articles 5-7 (fundamentalrights), joblessness is an issue of prime importance as numerous Pakistanischolars are on roads due to an ‘elitist educational mafia’ in the country.
Majority of the PhDs (671) from foreign and local universities in Pakistanare suffering because of non-provision of permanent jobs in the Pakistaniuniversities and other departments.