Preps begin for privatisation of college

After the administration lost its case against the privatisation of the Government Gordon College Rawalpindi in the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC), preparations have started to hand over the historic educational institution to its original owner.

With the latest development, the last constitutional and legal hurdle of handing over the 130-year-old government college building to its actual owner, the Christian Mission, has been cleared.

Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association says hundreds of educational institutions of Sindh and Punjab, including schools and colleges, were taken under martial law regulation 118 by the then martial law administrator Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1972 for the sake of education promotion.

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Later, when the property prices increased, the educational aspect was neglected and other commercial aspects took its place.

Protests erupted last year when the Government of Punjab announced the handing over of the historic college and all its properties to the Christian mission and subsequently, the students and teachers filed an appeal before the top court which was later dismissed.

Sources said the college teachers and students can file an intra-court appeal against the decision of the apex court.

Following the mass protests, the provincial education authorities had to put on hold the proposed privatisation of the 130-year-old government postgraduate Gordon College and the handing over of its building and land to the Christian mission.

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Sources said the Punjab government should seriously consider the interests of the poor people while deciding in the face of extreme internal and external pressures. However, considering the legal aspects, Gordon College cannot be abolished. Students and teachers of the college have threatened to launch another protest against any attempt to privatise the college.

The college was a missionary institution until 1972 and in the same year when other institutions of the country were nationalised, the Gordon College was also handed over to the Punjab government.

The case about the ownership of the college’s land had been pending since 1986. The management of Preston Church, which is adjacent to the college, claims that the land of the school is owned by the church and the same management is also running the FC College in Lahore.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2023.