Against universities law: Officers’ association also rejects govt’s move to appoint university officials

It will also make its own recommendations for the Sindh govt.

HYDERABAD:

In a belated reaction, the Sindh Universities Officers Federation (SUOF) has also rejected the Sindh government's move to appoint the top administrative positions in the varsities.

At a press conference held after the federation's meeting on Saturday, the officers also asked the government to pay heed to their issues. "We want the government to implement a uniform service structure in all public-sector universities and to remove retired officers and teachers from all administrative posts," said Ghulam Mohiyuddin Qureshi, the general secretary of the federation.

The government provoked a strong reaction from the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) by announcing the vacancies of registrars, examination controllers and finance directors for 20 government universities. The Fapuasa immediately suspended the academic activities from May 26 and launched a protest movement, which eventually pressured the government into withdrawing the advertisement.

The officers said they are the main stakeholders as far as these posts are concerned. "But, we did not protest the way Fapuasa did because we did not want to disturb the ongoing exams," explained Muhammad Tahir, who heads Karachi University's officers association.

According to the officers, the government spent millions of rupees on foreign PhD scholarships for each of the teachers. But, several among them are sitting on administrative posts. "Instead of contributing to teaching and research, these PhD teachers prefer official positions, which is very unfortunate for the students," said Qureshi.

The posts they occupy include registrar, controller, and directors for planning and development, postgraduate studies and transport departments, among others. The officers complained that they are denied promotions and postings on these jobs because of the hiring of retired employees and deputation of teachers.

The federation's vice chairperson, Najeebur Rehman Channa, said they want the incorporation of their demands in the proposed amendment to the Sindh Universities Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. The Fapuasa has already submitted its 11-point recommendations to this. Channa maintained, however, that the Fapuasa did not consult with the officers before it proposed the recommendations. A three-member committee of the federation is preparing its own set of recommendations, which will be handed over to the government for the amendment, he added.

The officers also want their representation in the university syndicate, demanding an equal number of seats given to the teachers. The syndicate includes four teacher representatives based on one each from the cadres of lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor and professor.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2014.