HEC to extend faculty tenures
Accepting the demands of teachers, the apex regulator of higher education institutions in the country on Monday extended the tenure of faculty from six to nine years, with revised criteria.
This was announced by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri on Monday after speaking with a delegation of the All Pakistan Tenure Track Faculty Association (APTTFA).
The announcement came after teachers aligned with the association had staged a protest outside the commission's secretariat on Monday.
Led by APTTFA President Dr Khurram Shahzad Ahmed, General Secretary Dr Qazi Zaigham Zia and others, teachers gathered outside the commission’s offices and chanted slogans in favour of their demands and against the HEC chief.
The teachers said that unless their demands are met, they will permanently camp outside the HEC offices as part of their protest.
To prevent any untoward incident and avoid complications for commuters, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration sealed off the road leading to the HEC secretariat using razor wires while a heavy contingent of police was deputed.
In response to this, the teachers blocked all traffic on adjoining roads, causing difficulties for those who were trying to get to the HEC office for resolving various issues.
Dr Ahmed and Dr Zia said that around 6,000 teachers are working under TTS in various public sector universities of the country.
However, they claimed that the HEC has refused to recognise TTS. They added that the commission had constituted a committee to resolve the issue of teachers working under TTS but it had failed to achieve any of its objectives.
They demanded that HEC accept the recommendations of the TTS and PBC Review Committee - which had been finalised by all stakeholders with a consensus two years ago.
It was further demanded that they should be assured of their employment and pave the way for appointing TTS teachers on administrative posts. Develop an integrated policy for articles and take APTTFA into confidence when formulating this policy.
Later, the HEC chairman invited a delegation of APTTFA representatives for detailed deliberations inside the HEC Secretariat.
During the meeting, Dr Banuri assured TTS faculty members that the commission was ready to accept their genuine demands.
It was decided that this week, HEC will issue three notifications. The first relates to the increase in tenure of TTS faculty members from six to nine years, with revised criteria. The other two notifications will relate to clarifications regarding administrative positions previously held by TTS faculty as well as the future course of action for holding such positions.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2020.