Jobless PhD holders to exceed 3,000 mark by end of 2020

The number of jobless PhDs in the country will exceed 3,000 by the end of 2020, said by the PhD Association of Pakistan (PAP).

Expressing their concerns over the large number of unemployed PhDs, PAP chair people said the government had been giving no importance to resolving the issue, and concerned authority had taken no successful actions for placement of the unemployed PhDs in universities in the country.

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The HEC chairman, Dr. Tariq Banuri, in a statement has said that about 45,000 non-PhD faculty members are currently working in state-run varsities across Pakistan.

Neither universities have shown the tendency to integrate the unemployed Ph. D. instead of non-PhD in the universities, nor have the competent authorities take concrete steps to provide employment opportunities. Similarly, the public and private sector universities seem to prefer the recruitment of non-PhD faculty members in the apparent violation of HEC guidelines.

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On the one hand, fresh PhDs are protesting about not having jobs. Several educational institutes have been hiring retired teachers on a contractual basis and as a visiting faculty member. This pattern is not only intimidating for fresh PhDs but also a direct breach of orders of the Supreme Court.

In 2009 HEC introduced the Interim Placement of Fresh PhDs Phase-I (IPFP) program to create job opportunities for Ph.D. scholars. The IPFP's goals were two-fold — providing work to fresh PhDs and helping institutions gain from their academic and research Experience.

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The PAP chair people ask that the federal government provide a package for unemployed PhDs. In the same manner, it released the economic relief packages for the people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They association also requests the government to provide employment opportunities for fresh Ph.D. doctors.