LAHORE: The Government College University (GCU) appears to be losing its prestige due to poor academic leadership who without any reservation can be held responsible for the declining academic standard of the university.
In one of the recent assessments of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), GCU managed to score only 32.20 points against various parameters set out by the body for evaluating the academic performance of public universities.
The report said the academic performance of GCU has been poor.
A Times Higher Education Ranking also suggests that GCU is losing its position due to poor performance. In 2018, the university celebrated for securing a position in the ranking. It was judged on the basis of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
Against these performance indicators, GCU was positioned in the band of 351-400 compared to other South Asian universities. In 2019, the university maintained its position within the same band.
Azfar Iqbal, an old Ravian, observed that on assuming office, GCU Vice Chancellor Professor Asghar Zaidi claimed improving the ranking of the university is one of his key goals.
However, in 2020 and 2021, the poor performance of GCU led to a decline in its ranking in THE list, earning the ranking in the category of 401+, the lowest band of performance.
In April, Zaidi almost faced an inquiry for purportedly harassing and threatening the chairperson of the computer science department with dire consequences.
Punjab governor — who on April 12 issued directions to the Higher Education Department (HED) secretary to conduct an inquiry against him for allegedly harassing Dr Syed Asad Raza Kazmi and submit a report within 15 days — withdrew his orders on April 16 due to reasons undisclosed.
