Edwardes College: KP governor takes notice of delay in appointment of principal

PESHAWAR: Taking notice of the extraordinary delay in appointment of principal of the historic Edwardes College, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman Khan on Tuesday directed the Higher Education Department to expedite the process as the office was being run on ad hoc basis for the last nearly two years, creating serious administrative and other issues.

The office fell vacant in December 2019 after the removal of former principal Nayar Fardows and the charge was given to a retired teacher of the college - the octogenarian Mohammad Zaki - till the arrival of a new principal.

The governor, who is also chairman of the board of governors of the institution, had given clear directives to the quarters concerned to ensure appointment of a regular vice-chancellor as soon as possible. Some sources reported that Mohammad Zaki was asked to run the office for just three to four weeks and the department concerned had been asked to make sure of the appointment of a regular principal within the shortest possible time. But nearly two years have passed and even the position could not be advertised.

“This lethargy should have no excuse,” the governor asked the secretary of the Higher Education Department in a letter. The letter stated that the delay in selection of a new principal is bringing bad name to the Edwardes College as well as to the government within the country and abroad as the college has international repute.

The delay in processing the selection of new principal is all more unwarranted after the directives from the Supreme Court of Pakistan to expedite the same, it added. The governor directed that the case for selection of a new principal should be immediately processed and a clear timeline be given to this effect. Any further delay is not acceptable, the governor stressed, while seeking explanation for the delay that has already been made.