Political Factors Affecting the Academic and Administrative Environment of Colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of political factors on the functioning of academic and administrative arrangements in government colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with a special reference to Malakand Division, Pakistan. Although sound policy frameworks regarding educational governance have been implemented, politics and political influences have been one of the major factors affecting the performance of the institutions. The research has been designed through a quantitative, descriptive and correlational design to analyze the effect of political influences such as favoritisms in appointments, manipulation in policies, and interruptions in administrations on the college operations. A sample of 400 participants has been selected from 20 government colleges using a stratified random sampling technique, which included 200 male and female each, recruited in teaching and administrative cadres. The data was collected through a validated Likert scale questionnaire that was analyzed using SPSS. The findings of the study indicate a significant negative correlation between political factors with academic performance and administrative efficiency. The regression further confirmed that political factors predict about 27% of variance in academic and 22% in administrative functioning. The gender-wise analysis also revealed that male respondents have perceived enough political interference, especially in leadership and decision making. The study has, therefore, concluded that politics has a significantly negative influence upon the internal governance and academic output of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa colleges. For the improvement of the situation, the establishment of meritocratic organization, merit-based recruitment, capacity-building programs for the administrators, educational surveillance by involving the community should be initiated. These system level interventions are necessary to ensure a stable, transparent and effective educational system as well. These efforts help the government and other stakeholders in implementing the educational policies in their real faces rather than their whimsical dimension.