Financial crunch: Himayat-i-Islam College plans downsizing

Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam forms committee to interview teachers for downsizing.

LAHORE:

The Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam plans to terminate nearly half of the 60 teachers of Himayat-i-Islam Khawateen College, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A committee is currently interviewing the faculty to identify the teachers to be retained.

The Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam, formed in 1884, runs eight educational institutions, including a law college and polytechnic institute. It also operates the Darul Shafqat, an orphanage, and the Darul Aman, a women’s shelter.

The college was established in Garden Town in 1987.

Several teachers who talked to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity said there were as many as 2,500 students enrolled in the college at one time. They said in 1994, the administration had stopped teachers’ salary citing a financial crunch.

A portion of the college’s building was then rented out to generate additional revenue. They said enrolment had been on the decline since 1995 and there were only 300 students studying in the college today. Some of the teachers said it was unfortunate that the Anjuman planned to terminate them despite a budgetary surplus of Rs5.1 million for the current financial year.

They said those working on an ad-hoc basis would be terminated in the first phase.

Mian Muhammad Munir, an Anjuman general council member, confirmed that a committee had been interviewing teachers for the purpose of downsizing.

He said the college had recently been losing up to Rs19 million annually.

As for the surplus, he said the Anjuman planned other social welfare projects.

Munir said enrolment had gone down due to poor performance of some of the teachers who he said would now be removed. He said the council had also decided to write to the government to seek financial help. “We may also rent out a part of the building to an educational institution to generate additional revenue,” he said. Tasawwur Ijaz, the Anjuman Himayat-i-Islam assistant secretary, said the committee’s decisions would be implemented.

Mariam, a student, said instead of terminating teachers the Anjuman should take steps to enhance enrolment.

Gulnaz Begum, the mother of a student, said the issues between the management and teachers should be resolved amicably.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2014.