The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has proposed a new bill that changes how public sector universities are managed. The bill, introduced by Minister for Higher Education Meena Khan, makes the Chief Minister the Chancellor of all public universities, replacing the Governor. It also gives the Chief Minister the authority to appoint Vice-Chancellors (VCs).
According to the bill, Vice-Chancellors will serve for four years, but their performance will be reviewed by a government-appointed Monitoring Committee. If a VC scores below 65% in their evaluation, their tenure can be ended before the four years are up.
An important part of the bill focuses on women’s universities in the province. It states that only women can be appointed as Vice-Chancellors for these institutions, aiming to promote women in leadership roles.
This bill brings major changes to how universities in KP are run. It shifts more control to the provincial government and introduces measures to hold university leaders accountable for their performance.
The government hopes these changes will improve the quality of higher education and create opportunities for women to take on key leadership roles in the education sector.