KARACHI, Nov 13: Criticizing a government decision to denationalize the educational institutions, the school and college teachers have demanded of the government to refrain from doing so, otherwise they would resist the move “by all means”.
The teachers held the bureaucracy responsible for the present malaise in the education system and said first they made an improper use of the foreign funds and other government resources and then after making a mess of the school and college education, the bureaucracy was now bent upon making a windfall gain after inducting the private sector.
They were speaking at a seminar on “the impact of privatization/denationalization of educational institutions”, organised by the Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association, Karachi chapter, at the Islamia Arts and Commerce College on Tuesday.
The seminar opposed the denationalization policy of the government and warned the government against making any such a decision and said an effective agitation would be launched in case the government did not withdraw its decision.
A member of the KU syndicate, Prof Dr Sohail Barkati, said a review of the government’s investment in the educational sector was a clear indicative of the fact that how serious the government was towards the promotion of education.
The government spent only three per cent of the GNP on education, he added.
He noted that the reasons for the denationalisation were similar to what cited as the basis for the nationalization of educational institutions about 30 years ago.
It was not correct to say that the standard of education had declined, but it was the government which wanted to reduced its responsibilities, he claimed.
The General Secretary of College Principals Association, Prof Anis zaidi, said the educational managers were campaigning for the denationalisation only under the instruction of the international donors. If the system looked in a mess or teachers were failing to deliver the good, then it were the competent authorities who should be held responsible, he said, adding no one other than the education department was responsible for the collapse of the educational system.
He said that the denationalization was against the interests of the masses. Some of the government personnel wanted to deprive the wards of the poor of education facility, which was their basic and constitutional right, he pointed out.
The Chairman of Federation of School Teachers’ Association, Syed Ahmed, said there was a need for an effective move against the denationalization plan of the government, which was only being implemented in Sindh.
A senior office-bearer of the alliance of different heads and teachers’ welfare bodies, Abdur Rehman, said opinions were being mobilized against the denationalization and it was likely that a strong campaign would be launched after Ramazan, if the government remained adopted an indifferent attitude.
General Secretary of SPLA, Sindh, Qazi Sirajuddin, said it was incorrect to say that nationalised colleges were not performing up to mark or were unmanageable as students belonging to these colleges were still passing the board’s examinations with distinction.
