Sindh Universities Act 2013: University teachers to observe province-wide strike on Feb 11

Teachers believe that the clauses will undermine the academic and administrative autonomy of public universities.

KARACHI:

Teachers at public-sector universities across the province are set to observe a strike to protest the controversial Sindh Universities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2013, on February 11.

Their counterparts in all other provinces will express solidarity by holding a two-hour boycott of academic activities at their respective institutions on the day too. At the meeting of Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (Fapuasa), held at the University of Karachi (KU) on Thursday, the office bearers of university teachers’ associations from all across the country claimed that the Sindh government had agreed in principle to remove certain controversial clauses in the act. The teachers believe that the clauses will undermine the academic and administrative autonomy of the provincial public universities.



“Limiting the powers of the university’s statutory bodies while giving blanket powers to the chief minister will curtail the academic and administrative freedom of the universities and politicise the institutions of higher learning,” said Dr Jameel Kazmi, the president of KU teachers’ society.

Meanwhile, the meeting also resolved to give a boost to their protest drive, which they had launched last year subsequent to the passage of the bill by the Sindh Assembly on August 19, by staging back-to-back demonstrations at various public-sector universities. It appears that the failure of intermittent negotiations has provoked the teachers to set the ball rolling yet again. In this context, a joint protest of teachers from the NED University of Engineering and Technology and the University of Karachi will be staged at the latter’s Silver Jubilee gate today (on Friday) at 11am.

Fapuasa president Dr Ehsan Sharif, who was presiding the meeting, was of the view that teachers across the country were determined to not compromise on the autonomy of the higher seats of learning. “We believe that the Sindh government’s tactical delay in resolving the issue by failing to approve the teachers’ proposed amendments on the controversial law is highly condemnable,” he said.

He explained that the teachers had prepared the draft for amendments while stating their reservations on the law and hoped that the authorities would take them into account. “The [Sindh] government, however, seems to be dragging its feet on this important issue because the teachers wanted to curb the political influence that hampers the operations of universities.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2014.