SHC order likely to end teacher-administration war at SU

Controversy arose over appointment of teachers on administrative posts at the varsity

HYDERABAD: The academic and administrative arms of public sector universities in the province have been slogging it out for many years in the turf war concerning the former's alleged encroachment in the latter's orbit. After years of tug of war, sporadic protests and recurrent demands by the officers, a Sindh High Court (SHC) order last month appeared to have settled the controversy, culminating in upholding the officers' stance.

However, with the officers association of Sindh University (SU), in whose student suicide case the SHC gave this order, remonstrating again, the problem plods on. Ghulam Nabi Kaka, the association's president, who has been leading a token protest at SU for three days, complained of a lack of implementation of the court's order.

"Their continued presence in the administration while affecting the academic learning is also denying us our [officers'] due rights and opportunities for career growth," he contended. Kaka said the government is spending Rs9 million to Rs10 million on foreign PhD scholarships but some of the teachers, after acquiring the PhD degrees, prefer to work in the administration instead of teaching.



His association claims that 16 teachers are still working in some of the top administrative positions, including SU Registrar Saleem Chandio, in apparent defiance of the court's order. Chandio is also a member of SU's syndicate on the post of professor and allegedly holds a few other charges.

The association's general secretary, Sajjad Ali Shah, told The Express Tribune that on Saturday SU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat called the association for a meeting.

However, the meeting set off to an unpleasant start when the officers felt offended and harassed due to the presence of police contingents which they claimed cordoned off SU's administrative block. Sajjad said after their protest the VC removed the security.



He said that the VC assured them that the court's order will be complied with and the officers' demands accepted after which the association deferred their daily protests for two days till Tuesday. "We will resume the demonstrations and will file the contempt of court case if the assurance doesn't materialise."

SU's Spokesperson Nadir Mugheri said that so far four teachers - Murtaza Khoso, Rafiq Lashari, Mehar Ali Qazi and Dr Zulfiqar Laghari - have been removed from the administration. He added that the removal of other teachers from administrative responsibilities in also under process. But, he could not give a definite time frame for completing the process.

The association's office bearers, who seem to have taken the VC's assurance with a pinch of salt, are relying more on their protest and contempt plea for achieving their objective. SU Teachers Association President Dr Azhar Ali Shah, in a statement issued on Friday, said there is no confrontation between the teachers and officers over this matter. He added that academic and non-academic posts are clearly defined.

The officers believe that if the SHC's order is implemented it will set a precedent for all other government universities in Sindh to follow and withdraw teachers from the administration.