Pakistan’s higher education system is widely celebrated as a driver of national progress. Yet, beneath the headlines and global rankings lies a troubling paradox: the very individuals sustaining universities, the visiting faculty, are trapped between indispensability and systemic neglect. Across the country, from Islamabad and Punjab to Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PhD scholars and early-career researchers have shifted from temporary stop-gaps to the primary engine of academic operations, shouldering teaching, research supervision, and administrative responsibilities that permanent faculty can no longer manage alone.
This reliance on visiting faculty has become structural. Departments in universities across Pakistan often depend on dozens of visiting lecturers to maintain the continuity of each semester. These scholars are not adjuncts in a casual sense; they are the backbone of tertiary education, supervising BS and MPhil theses, managing departmental administration, and conducting research that sustains universities’ academic outputs. Yet, despite their essential role, visiting faculty routinely face chronic fiscal delinquency and institutional neglect.
As highlighted by Sardar Sajawal Khan Niazi, PhD Scholar at Quaid-i-Azam University, departments in premier institutions like Quaid-i-Azam University and the University of Chakwal often have 15 to 20 visiting lecturers sustaining an entire semester. While these examples illustrate the problem vividly, similar patterns prevail across nearly all public universities in Pakistan. Salaries for visiting faculty are frequently delayed by 12 to 24 months, with no interim support, inflation adjustments, or safeguards. What administrations often dismiss as “budgetary constraints” or “procedural delays” is, in reality, an interest-free loan extracted from the country’s most educated youth, forcing them to sustain the academic system without financial security.
Private and military-run institutions, by contrast, routinely pay visiting faculty on time, proving that fiscal discipline is achievable. Public universities, however, have normalized exploitation, relying on the dedication of visiting faculty while failing to provide basic protections. The consequences are severe. Scholars struggle to meet basic living costs, support families, and maintain research productivity. Morale erodes, teaching quality suffers, and the brain drain intensifies, as Pakistan’s brightest minds seek professional stability abroad.
Speaking from my own experience as a visiting faculty member, I can attest that this systemic neglect undermines not only individual livelihoods but the quality of education nationwide. Universities are increasingly dependent on visiting faculty, yet treat them as disposable. The irony is stark: we celebrate global university rankings while the scholars generating that value struggle to afford basic commute fares or household expenses.
Addressing this issue requires urgent policy intervention. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and university administrations must establish a Charter of Rights for Visiting Faculty. This charter should mandate timely quarterly payments, standardized compensation across provinces, and institutional protections, including support during delays and adjustments for inflation. This is not a radical demand; it is essential for the stability and integrity of Pakistan’s higher education system.
Visiting faculty are no longer guests in the ivory tower; they are the ones keeping the lights on. Their expertise, labor, and dedication sustain the teaching and research outputs that define Pakistan’s academic reputation. Yet, when the state allows them to function without financial security, it risks undermining the very foundation of higher education. A nation that starves its scholars cannot expect to feed its future.
This article draws on observations first shared by Sardar Sajawal Khan Niazi on social media, adapted and analyzed from the perspective of a visiting faculty member. While the experiences of QAU and the University of Chakwal provide concrete examples, the structural neglect described is widespread, affecting visiting faculty and the quality of higher education across Pakistan. By highlighting this invisible workforce and calling for systemic reform, it is my hope that authorities take urgent steps to recognize and protect the scholars who keep our universities alive.
