arly in the 21st Century, higher education authorities in Pakistan launched the Tenure Track System (TTS), a new mechanism purposed to invigorate the academic sphere. Once heralded as a beacon of progress for the higher education sector, the TTS is now a testament to flagrant neglect and gross mismanagement by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and most of the university managements.

Designed to attract more qualified faculty and incentivise exemplary performance, the TTS, in theory, was to provide competitive remuneration packages and incentives, culminating in a single competitive system for faculty recruitment, retention, promotion and tenure. Alas, despite its initial allure, the TTS now embodies the disintegration of Pakistan’s higher education system. Far from fostering academic excellence, the TTS has birthed a toxic milieu that has decimated the dignity, morale and zeal of faculty members.

The HEC, the supposed shepherd of the TTS, has emerged as a butcher, chopping away at the pillars of the TTS with reckless abandon. Bereft of consistent pay revisions promised initially, devoid of a coherent policy and allowing universities to adopt systems based on their own capricious standards, the HEC has demonstrated a woeful ineptitude in managing the TTS effectively. Compounding the problem is the dearth of accountability in most universities. The Pakistani university administration is currently characterised by bureaucratic bloat, corruption and cronyism. The focal point has pivoted from cultivating an environment conducive to learning and growth to amassing power and quashing dissent. This has engendered an us-versus-them dynamic between TTS faculty members and university administrations, fostering a climate of antagonism and rancour.

The disintegrating TTS has also precipitated a significant brain drain from Pakistan. As TTS faculty members increasingly seek opportunities abroad, the nation haemorrhages its brightest minds to a system that stubbornly refuses to acknowledge their value. This exodus of intellectual capital portends a grave crisis imperilling the future of Pakistan’s higher education system.

The TTS has been in place for nearly two decades. Myriad practical challenges have arisen due to its haphazard implementation. TTS faculty members have voiced concerns over the erosion of incentives, exclusion of non-salary benefits such as pension and health insurance and unwarranted delays in approval of promotions. Moreover, the system has failed to deliver on its original promise of recognising and rewarding superior performance. The absence of incentives for high-achieving TTS faculty members and equal treatment of non-performers have cultivated a demoralising atmosphere for those striving for excellence.

The calibre of approved journals in which TTS faculty members have published their research papers has also been challenged. The omission of teaching quality from the assessment framework has resulted in an inexorable decline in the quality of education.

A sweeping revamp is imperative to rescue the TTS and restore confidence in Pakistan’s higher education system. The HEC must reassess its policies concerning TTS faculty members and ensure that they are treated with the respect and dignity they merit. This includes re-evaluating criteria for promotions, salaries and research funding and instituting a transparent grievance redress mechanism for TTS faculty to express concerns without fear of reprisal. Additionally, it is vital to confront the bureaucratic morass that has infiltrated the universities. This necessitates dismantling the self-serving structures granting university administrations undue power and influence, thereby clearing a path for a more democratic, accountable and inclusive system that empowers academic staff and prioritises the pursuit of knowledge above all else.

The HEC and the universities must also address the grievances and critiques of TTS faculty members. They must collaborate to reinstate the superiority of TTS salaries over BPS salaries and firmly index them to BPS with a 35 per cent TTS bonus, ensuring that financial superiority becomes a permanent feature of the pay scales. Furthermore, promotion criteria should be revised to provide a more pragmatic, objective and comprehensive evaluation of all performance indicators rather than exclusively emphasising publications that merely fuel the predatory journal industry known sfor exorbitant fees. Teaching quality must also be explicitly incorporated as part of the promotion requirements to bridge the gap between TTS and BPS faculty. More importantly, proper pension and health insurance programmes must be approved for TTS faculty on a contributory basis. Finally, a concerted effort must be made to transform the prevailing “us versus them” mentality that has poisoned the relationship between university administrations and BPS and TTS faculty members.

This can be achieved through open dialogue, collaboration and a shared commitment to cultivating a culture of respect, equality and intellectual curiosity. To achieve this, the HEC must not abandon its TTS faculty after they are hired by universities. A grievance redress cell should be established by the HEC to address the concerns of TTS faculty members while they are part of the universities, ensuring that they are not treated like forsaken children with foster parents.

The dire situation faced by the TTS academic faculty constitutes a tragedy that demands our immediate attention. The crushing of dignity, disrespect, and the shameful attitude prevalent in these institutions are not only jeopardising the future of Pakistan’s higher education system but also depriving the nation of its most precious resource: its intellectual capital.

The time has come for us to take action and stand up for the TTS faculty members who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge before the brain drain becomes irreversible and our universities become hollow, crumbling shells of their former selves. The TTS was conceived with a vision of fostering excellence in academia – it’s time we returned to that vision.

The writer is an assistant professor at the School of Sociology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He can be reached at isabir@qau.edu.pk