UNESCO delegate picked in violation of merit
ISLAMABAD: To Pakistan’s credit, it has appointed a new permanent delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.
A day before the end of his 16-month tenure, the previous government approved the appointment of a person as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, who stood 10th in the written test and third in the three-member panel.
In the summary sent by the Ministry of Education to former Prime Shehbaz Sharif, the former Prime Minister selected a person who was not even among the top five candidates in the merit-based examination organized by the ‘Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). , official documents showed.
According to the sources, after being interviewed by a panel set up by the former prime minister, the person was narrowed down to third place to become eligible to appear in the summary sent to the prime minister for approval.
“On July 8 this year, the departmental selection committee interviewed 12 candidates and selected the three-member board of officials in order of merit, which consisted of written test and interview scores,” says the summary sent to the former prime minister. July 31
The Ministry of Education forwarded it in order of merit to Mansoor Ali Masood, currently in the Ministry of Economy, Saadiya Noori, who is the Customs Secretary, FBR, and Lubna Said Ghias, who is also in the Ministry of Economy. Affairs. The former prime minister had the right to choose one of the three people, but he did not follow the merit list.
In the written test, there was a big difference between the first and third candidates. The top candidate scored 79.3 out of 100, while the Shehbaz Sharif-backed candidate scored 62.85. Masood topped the written test while Ghias finished 10th.
Published in EDP BLOGS on August 16,2023.
