Teachers protest against privatisation of colleges
The professors and lecturers of Women’s Postgraduate College have also joined the sit-in being staged in all public colleges of Hazara division and the rest of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa against the privatisation of government colleges.
The lecturers and professors said that the K-P government’s decision to privatise government colleges will harm the cause of education in the province.
They said that the four-year BS programme is progressing successfully in 118 colleges and over 200,000 students are enrolled. The privatisation of colleges will affect their future.
The teaching staff also added that the merit of these colleges is more than the universities and the fee per semester is Rs3,000 because the professors are teaching these students voluntarily and are not taking any extra fee.
The K-P government wants to make money by increasing the fee up to 70,000.
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All professors in K-P are unanimous in protesting against the government’s educational policy.
Peaceful protests were held across the province on Thursday on the instructions of the central leadership of the professors’ organisation.
According to Haripur Women’s College, Professor Norman Zainab, who supports the provincial leadership’s position, said that because of the complete strike, no classes were held. She said that the staff of the colleges and all other cadres have also supported the protest call. Meanwhile, sources said that this decision of the provincial government has severely affected the employees of other departments, including professors across the province.
The boycott of academic activities will deprive millions of female students of education as exams are set to begin in the next two months. In addition, protests will be staged across the district after consultation with the provincial leadership. The teachers have demanded that the provincial government reconsider its education policy.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2021.