The National University of Science and Technology (Amendment) Act 2016
Proposed and moved by: Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid on behalf of Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanveer Hussain (Members, National Assembly)
Status: Passed (By National Assembly)
Summary: On 25th February 2016, Thursday, The National University of Science and Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed in the National Assembly with majority votes amidst opposition from PTI and PPP lawmakers.
Dr Shireen Mazari, Naveed Qamar and Shafqat Mehmood opposed the Bill saying that it was aimed to benefit a specific person. However, defending the Bill, Zahid Khan said that NUST had multiple disciplines and was among the top 500 universities of the world.
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the National University of Science and Technology Act, 1997 (which was notified on June 10, 1997). Initially, NUST was conceived as an engineering university, hence its rector was to offer “engineering” qualifications only. Over the years, the university expanded into many disciplines and is now among the top universities of Pakistan providing quality education in various fields apart from engineering. Thus, the choice for selection of rector is proposed to be widened so that the best suited education manager as rector could be appointed for NUST.
It is therefore proposed that in section 10, in sub-section (I), the words “engineering qualifications and experiences”, shall be substituted with the words “qualifications and experiences as prescribed by the Board” for a better selection of rector for NUST.
(Summary by Umaima Masood)
