ISLAMABAD: As the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has failed to address the major demand of over 5000 professors (faculty members of public universities under Tenure Track System (TTS), the university teachers are now agin planning to gather in Islamabad to protest in favour of their demand this month.
According to a statement of All Pakistan Tenure Track Association (APTTA), a leading association of faculty members teaching under TTS, more than 5,000 doctors (Assistant professors, associate professors and professors) appointed under the TTS are frustrated with the lack of seriousness among high-ranking officials at HEC, who seem to have no regular scheme of action in place for the system.
The TTS was introduced by HEC to improve the quality of higher education in Pakistan. Under this system, faculty members are appointed on a contract basis for a fixed period of time, and their promotion and salary increments depend on their performance during that period. However, due to the absence of a clear policy and framework for the TTS, faculty members are at the mercy of HEC officials, who often fail to deliver on their promises.
One of the major issues faced by TTS faculty members is the lack of a proper salary structure. Due to inflation, TTS salaries have been squeezed, and despite the current budgetary increase in salaries for government employees, no framework has been made so far for TTS faculty members. This means that they are likely to be deprived of any salary increase due to the lack of a concrete policy by HEC.
In addition to salary issues, faculty members under TTS are also facing other academic and technical problems. One of these is the Higher Education Journal Recognition System (HJRS), which is used to evaluate the quality of research publications. The HJRS is essential for the career progression of TTS faculty members, but due to the lack of a clear policy by HEC, they are facing chronic issues related to its implementation.
The APTTA has been vocal about the plight of TTS faculty members. APTTA has demanded that HEC take responsibility and treat TTS as its financial liability because HEC appointed these 5,000 PhDs. Recently, the federal government has issued a sum of Rs. 7 billion to HEC, and APTTA has urged HEC to use this money to concretize their notification of a 35% salary gap between faculty members serving under TTS and the Basic Pay Scale (BPS).
Furthermore, in a recent meeting with APTTA’s management, HEC officials assured them that TTS statutes version-3 will be introduced to address the issues faced by TTS faculty members. APTTA has demanded that HEC publicize version-3 of TTS statutes along with the compliance of HEC issued notifications regarding maintaining 35% salary gap between faculty members serving under TTS and the Basic Pay Scale (BPS). APTTA has also called for pension, in-service death benefits for bereaved families, and launching of a new HJRS to be addressed by HEC.
If HEC fails to address the concerns of TTS faculty members, APTTA has warned that protests and sit-ins will be staged in front of HEC. This is a crucial time for HEC to take these issues seriously and work towards improving the state of higher education in Pakistan.
