|
|
|
HEC seeks governor's action against PU plagiarists
ISLAMABAD, May 2(Dawn): The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has sought
Governor Khalid Maqbool's intervention in his capacity as chancellor of the
Punjab University to take action against the university's faculty involved in
plagiarism.
HEC Executive Director Dr Suhail Naqvi said,
"We have formally written to the chancellor to look into the issue, as the PU
has decided not to remove its five faculty members from service despite the fact
their involvement in plagiarism has been confirmed by the university's own
investigative committee".
After the confirmation of their involvement in
copying research work done by others, the HEC had asked the PU to immediately
sack them under the Removal from Service Ordinance (RSO) 2000. However, the PU
syndicate let the convicted faculty off the hook with mere censuring
remarks.
Asked about the HEC's three-member ethics committee which was
specially constituted to make recommendations on the issue, Dr Naqvi said it had
unanimously endorsed that teachers who committed the crime should be removed
from service.
The PU syndicate had contested that since there was no
prescribed punishment for cheating, it had to leave the guilty faculty members
with mild punishments.
Referring to the ordinance, Dr Naqvi said it
underlined that an official found guilty of misconduct could be sacked from
service. But the PU administration believed that cheating did not come under
misconduct.
The syndicate had stripped Centre for Higher Energy Physics
director Prof Fazal-i-Aleem of directorship and issued warning to lecturers
Maqsood Ahmad, Rasheed Ahmad, Sohail Afzal Tahir and Alam Saeed. Prof Aleem's
tenure as director had already ended in October last year but he was asked to
carry on until further orders.
However, he will continue to serve as
director general of the School of Physical Sciences at the PU.
In
response to a question, the ED HEC said they were yet to receive any response
from the chancellor, and the PU was sticking to its earlier position of not
taking any strict decision against the plagiarists.
In reaction to the
varsity's stubborn attitude, the HEC has already frozen its financial assistance
and warned that until it removed the guilty faculty from service, no funding
would be released.
On the other hand, the PU registrar has argued that it
was very much varsity's internal matter and the HEC has nothing to do in this
regard.
|
|
 |
| Post your Comments about this News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
