An internal inquiry has led to the conclusion that amongst Pakistan’s most prestigious universities in the Government College University has made payment to a ‘ghost’ foreign faculty in the ten years standing between 2003 and 2013.
16 years back in 2003, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) commenced a Foreign Faculty Hiring Program (FFHP). It was GCU’s Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences (ASSMS) that was amongst the more beneficial in all the happenings – being much better off than before, as it went on to receive a very prominent share of the funding which took place under this program for hiring qualified teachers from foreign universities – with their duties consisting of teaching, researching as well as the supervision of students.
The inquiry report has since then suggested that ASSMS has since then went on to spend an astonishing Rs. 638 million from 2003 to 2013 on foreign faculty as all in all, it hired 58 foreign teachers. Not all these teachers were hired for a consistent duration as some were hired for just a few months, while others were for years. Most of these teachers were paid on a monthly basis.
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Does the HEC also play a role?
Ever since all this has made the news, former chairman of HEC Dr. Attaur Rehman, former executive director Dr. Sohail Naqvi and Wasim Hashmi Syed, former FFHP project have all been blamed in releasing funds from the HEC.
The report suggests that most of these foreign faculty members spent a few weeks to a few months in Lahore, however, they were being paid very handsome amounts of money for their short stays – all this in a regular manner!
The administration based in ASSMS in its correspondence with HEC did indeed demand funds however they never mentioned exactly however many faculty members were still present in Pakistan performing their duties.
The report has also come to the conclusion that all the events which have taken place could not have happened without the consent of ASSMS director-general Dr. Choudary and director finance administration Ejaz Malik. Finally, the inquiry committee has also requested NAB to look into the matter.
