Threaten province-wide strike unless newly instituted BoG is abolished, upgrades are approved. PHOTO: FILE
A general body meeting of the local college staffers was held at the Government Superior Science College in Peshawar on Sunday. College staffers in the meeting unanimously agreed to resist the creation of the BoG at any cost.
They believed that a BoG would not only hurt the rights but also the dignity of college teachers.
The government has upgraded almost all other departments, except for the Higher Education Department (HED) which shows their bias and prejudice against the college community, which is strongly condemned, read a resolution passed by the college teachers.
The lack of basic facilities such as clean drinking water, functional washrooms, well-equipped classrooms, decent offices and internet services are not available in colleges which demonstrate the incompetence of the incumbent government, the college staffers added.
“All pledges of reforming the education sector were not only cosmetic but deluded and misconceived.”
The staffers proposed that a central action committee call for a lockdown of colleges across the province since their previous experiences with the provincial government have been disappointing and unproductive.
The members also passed a special resolution that any member of the community who does not participate in the meetings and activities of the community, without a logically acceptable reason, shall be fined Rs1,000 or be socially and communally boycotted.
The teachers also expressed their apprehension that the move would effectively turn government-run colleges into privately run entities.
“The structure and composition of BoG is not acceptable to the college teaching community as it will privatise the state-run colleges as a result of which not only will the teaching staff suffer but also make studies expensive for poor children,” Ehmad Saeed, the president of the local chapter of college staffers, told The Express Tribune.
Saeed explained that with this new system, the government’s aim is for colleges to generate their own revenue from students which would see current semester fees rise from around Rs6,000 to around Rs30,000 or even Rs35,000 per semester – putting poor children at a disadvantage.
Talking about the issues which directly impact the teachers, Saeed said that government employees and teachers at universities receive a professional allowance. However, college lecturers and professors are deprived of this allowance, which is an injustice.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2017.
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