As many as 13 teachers had been told to vacate their college residence by June 30. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE: As many as 35 former Aitchison College employees held a press conference on Sunday to protest against their termination, declaring it illegal.
In an abrupt move on Friday, the administration of Aitchison College had announced the termination of 60 teachers including the acting headmaster and 35 junior staff.
“We were sacked without being told why,” said Mian Asif, who had been the acting headmaster of the college for three years. As many as 13 teachers had been told to vacate their college residence by June 30. “Many of us had been teaching at the college for over 15 years. We weren’t even called for an explanation,” he said.
They said Aitchison College Principal Shamim Saifullah had fired them because he intended to hire ‘yes men’. They also accused him of favouritism in admitting new students to the college.
“Those of us who did not live on campus were not even allowed to enter the college after being handed over the termination letters,” Shahzad Gohar, a mathematics teacher, told The Express Tribune, “The letters carry only the principal’s signature.”
Pulwasha Khan, another teacher, said that they had been victimised because of their affiliation with the former principal and because they had demanded equal treatment for students who sought admission.
“Principal Saifullah had joined the institution in 1994 and served till 2008. He again took charge this year and began terminating teachers,” Mian Asif lamented.
The Express Tribune tried to reach Principal Saifullah but he was not available.
“The teachers fired had become deadwood... We terminated them to bring in new and energetic ones to revive the prestige of Aitchison College,” said Governor Makhdoomzada Ahmad Mahmood, who also heads the board of Governors.
The terminated staff requested the government to form a committee to monitor the transparency and merit of new admissions. They also demanded the principal’s resignation and appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motto action against their termination.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2013.
COMMENTS (10)
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After reading your comments i want to say stop making that man a god bcoz he is not who humiliated the noble profession of teaching,he is too old to manage the affairs,all other contemporary institutes respect their teachers who gave precious years of their life to the institute,he put a question mark on college integrity and wat about the number of batches which were taught by the teachers,if they were incompetent than u mean to say that Mr Turabi of prep school who is the best buddy of present headmaster amir hussain is competent or newly appointed Garrison team is good.He cut the roots rather to take them in the governing body like others ,he humiliated them by giving the title of dead wood,My son is still their and he was shocked to know the names of his young teachers who brought a gr8 change in him,This decision was entirely on likeness and dislikeness. who will bring the true spirit of aitchison newly appointed teachers who have come from various backgrounds and know nothing about the college.This institue has its own demands and it takes time to understand it.Mr khan who is an old man should leave this place and should not play wid its prestiage anymore.and plz stop calling him a gr8 man who is sensless.
Here is a thing, Mr. Aitchisonian. Aitchison is a school, not a parliament. dissent looks good in a parliament. in a school and at jobs, you can not be anything but a person who has to agree with what the boss says and implement his policies. politics should not be part of an administration of a school. I personally do not know Mr. Aijazuddin. I have said the things that i had come to know from some of my old teachers. I had a teacher who left because of Aijazuddin and she said that "lambay note chap raha hai". mind you, she had been teaching just because she loved to teach. she was from a rich family. i have not been to Aitchison in the last couple of years so i did not know that Mr. Aijazuddin had been replaced by Dr. Hafeez. My personal belief still is that Mr. Shamim is better thaq both of them anyway.
Mr Khattak whatever you say most of that is true however i would like to make a few qualifications here. Mr Shamim is hugely autocratic but well intentioned. He is very heavy handed in his approach and does not tolerate dissent. Some would accuse that he even treats teachers as feudals treat their subjects. He is honourable in his dealings though and does not become a victim of corruption.
The teachers who were dismissed deserved it. You are wrong to say that he replaced Mr Fakir (who sold his book) rather it was Dr Hafeez who was undisputably the worst principal in the history of Aitchison College. Horribly incompetent and uncharismatic. But Mr Fakir did sell his book at twice the cost and forced each student to purchase the book (very wrong move) but the money from that went into the coffers of Aitchison and he was not a beneficiary.
Now I will discuss the teachers. Some of them are truly a dishonourable bunch. They push their limits. Fakir let them have a free reign where they critiqued Fakir and ridiculed him sitting in staff rooms with impunity yet he was not in the habit of terminations. He was known to be a gentle man who gave leeways now Sir Shamim is the exact opposite and you would be hard pressed to find a single teacher who back bites against him because his solution to every problem is a termination (be it student or a teacher).
Yet he is the kind of mind Aitchison needs in these hard times. Lets wish him the best ! And lets not be too concerned about the fates of the terminated teachers. They really did deserve it !!!!
I am an old aitchisonian and i was a student during the first tenure of Mr. Shamim Saifullah Khan. he is an honorable man. when he came to the school the first time, he gave his best to make it the most wonderful institution in Pakistan. he always looks for the interests and future of the students. he invests in the students well being.
I dont know most of the names mentioned in this article. They were not teachers in my time. However, I know that the previous Principal was a corrupt man who once sold his book to the students at double the market price, and then billed them without their consent. imagine selling 2000 books at 4000 rupees a piece. how much money did he make? This was told to me by another retired teacher.
Mr. Shamim S. Khan did not want to continue at Aitchison the last time too because he has health issues. this he personally told me back in 2004 when he had been given the last of his three five-years extension. After his first stint, many people demanded that he be brought back. and so he came out of retirement.
he might be a bit autocratic in his style but corruption is not a blame you can put on him. in his previous stint he had said NO to many VIPs to get their sons admitted. some started a smear campaign against him. he did not budge.
I have full confidence that if these teachers have been sacked, then they probably deserved it.
As a recent ex-Aitchisonian, I can say with full confidence that about 90% of these fired teachers deserved the sack. They were incompetent, lazy, manipulative and narrow-minded. They are amongst the myriad of reasons why Aitchison has been driven into the ground. The decision as I (and most other current Aitchisonians, I assure you) see it, is just, necessary and timely - the execution however, in bad taste.
Who so ever was fired was corrupt they were all involved in massive corruption and selling their souls they are no saints.
@Umer: As a matter of fact these teachers are to be replaced with teachers from England and Australia. Sir Shamim has repeatedly emphasised that these teachers are dead wood and that they should be replaced by competent teachers.
I am guessing these teachers would be replaced by Mullahs. The task of Zia ul Haq continues under present government.
Aitchsion is a very prestigious institution. Shamim Khan is an honorable man. The four years he was away from Aitchsion the place really deteriorated. There was also a lot of corruption that happened during those four years. An ex governor is also known to have made a packet. Most of the staff let go had become a part of this mafia. A good brave move by Mr Khan. An important educational institution like Aitchsion needs a strong man who can say no to the powerful at its helm.
Now why is this not a surprise?
The culture of Punjab dictates that nepotism and total obedience is the only basis for forming a team.
What did you expect?
Where are the parents?
Who is telling the truth?