Internal crisis: Teachers warn of turmoil at Edwardes College

Some teachers resign as principal says baseless allegations have been levelled against him

PESHAWAR: Some faculty members of the century-old Edwardes College in Peshawar have tendered their resignation for being “harassed and victimised” as an apparent crisis in the college worsens.

Faculty members claim that the college is on the verge of collapse. Despite the fact that the situation has been brought to the notice of the college’s chancellor, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Iqbal Zafar Jaghra who has yet to meet the complaining teachers or take action on their grievances.

“The day the foreigners left, the college’s downfall began,” stated one of the faculty members.

The faculty member, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions from the college management, stated that things were moved off the right path and onto an alleged wrong direction.

He added that not only teachers but students too were worried about their future.

Another faculty member, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that the incumbent principal of the college, Nayar Fardows, was proving to be a financial burden on the college by drawing a hefty salary and employing a large staff.

“He has two cars, his utility bills are paid by the college and is living in a 10 Kanal bungalow,” shared the teacher, adding, “This is something which is not even afforded to a basic pay scale (BPS) grade-22 officer (amongst highest ranking government civil servants) and all this was being done in violation [of the rules] since there was no college rule for all these benefits.”

“When you are being victimised and forced to compromise, you should leave,” was the way Waqar Baig, a chemistry lecturer at the college, explained the reasons for resigning from the institution.

Baig had resigned from his duties on August 1.

He stated that he taught students for five years and would give four lectures a day. However, he was later forced to give six lectures a day. Noting that he did get paid extra for the two additional lectures, Baig said it came at the cost of compromised quality of those lectures.

“Someone else would have been happy but I was concerned about my students,” Baig told The Express Tribune, adding, “One should believe in quality and not quantity.”

In his resignation letter, submitted on August 1 — a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune — Baig alleged that both the head of the chemistry department and the principal of the college were incompetent and that the principal had inducted members of his family in the college and a case in this regard has been filed at the K-P chapter of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“I request that some stern action should be taken otherwise Edwardes College will have a downfall,” Baig warned in his resignation to Jhagra.

The letter was also sent to the vice chancellor of the Peshawar University, the principal and vice principal of Edwardes College, the Bishop, head of the department and member board of governors.

When asked for his views on the matter, Fardows termed the allegations as ‘baseless’.

Explaining his entitlements, the principal said that everything at his disposal had been duly approved by the college board.

“Whatever I have been using and whatever is at my disposal has been duly approved by the board of governors and is duly signed in my contract,” Fardows told The Express Tribune.

He further stated that he had, in fact, helped steer the college out of a financial crisis.

Responding to allegations made by Baig, Fardows explained that the chemistry teacher never resigned, rather his services had been terminated after he threatened the head of his department, setting up an academy (Edwardian Academy) where he was wooing teachers of the college to join him.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2018.