Two prestigious educational institutions are currently facing leadership issues, and the situation is being made worse by those responsible for resolving it.

At Aitchison College, the principal, Michael A Thompson, left at the end of May. A search committee selected Dr. SM Turab Hussain, a respected educationist, as his replacement. This choice was approved by the Board of Governors in a meeting. Dr. Hussain has resigned from his position at the Lahore University of Management Sciences to take up this new role. However, it is uncertain if he will be able to start, as the meeting minutes approving his appointment have not yet been signed by the Governor of Punjab, who is the president of the board. Without this signature, the official notification of his appointment cannot be issued. He is supposed to start on August 1, but without the notification, it seems unlikely.

Lawrence College in Murree is also facing a similar situation. Brigadier R Mujahid Alam, the principal since 2013, was supposed to step down at the end of May. A committee was to find his replacement, who was expected to start on June 1, according to a decision made at a meeting on March 11. However, the minutes of that meeting were released eight weeks later, leaving only two weeks to appoint the new principal.

Brigadier R Alams tenure had not been clearly defined and remained open-ended. The Board of Directors tried to set a fixed end date, which they decided should be May 31, 2024. The board has been trying to get their decisions implemented, even sending reminders to the Governor of Punjab, who is the boards president. A meeting was scheduled with only 72 hours notice, but it was canceled the day before. Meanwhile, seven members were suddenly removed, which is against the Punjab Educational Institutions Act 2021, which states that a member can only be removed before completing a three-year term under specific conditions, such as being of unsound mind, incapacitated, convicted, or missing three consecutive meetings.

New members have been appointed, and the removal of the previous members has been challenged in the Lahore High Courts Rawalpindi bench. A meeting has been called today Saturday to review the decisions made in the March 11 meeting, including those regarding the principal. The Governor of Punjab did not respond to questions from The News.