21 January 2004	Wednesday	28 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 20: The formation and signing of any code of conduct will not ensure peace at educational institutions, however, clashes among student groups at city educational institutes can be avoided solely by lifting ban imposed on student unions.

This was stated by the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) president Manzoor Hussain Chishti and its general secretary Mirza Athar Hussain while addressing a press conference at Govt S.M. Arts College on Tuesday.

"Laws and codes of conduct are already there to prevent clashes among student groups at city colleges and universities. If the government is serious in restoring peace at educational institutes, it should prepare a code of conduct for political parties, patronizing student groups," they said.

Expressing concern over deteriorating law and order situation and recent killing of a student at Govt Commerce and Economics College, they said the government should take up the issue seriously, otherwise, parents would stop sending their children to educational institutes.

According to them, 99 per cent students enter in educational institutes for taking classes and only a few number of students were involved in political activities, who often resort to violence. The government should restore student unions at city colleges and universities to avoid such clashed in future, they added.

Criticizing the provincial education minister and other authorities, the SPLA office-bearers said the authorities had assured that a "political solution" of student political groups' activities would be sorted out. However, they added, nobody was serious to improve law and order situation at city educational institutions.

Teachers were facing government's neglect in solution of their genuine issues, they said, and demanded of the government to give house-rent to government teachers as per new pay scales and notify promotion orders for hundreds of teachers, awaiting promotions to the next grades.

They warned that if their demands were not met by Jan 27, over 7,000 college teachers in Sindh would observe black-day and perform their duties by wearing black arm-bands.

"Even then, if our demands are not listened by Feb 16, the teaching community in Sindh will observe hunger strike and take out processions, besides boycott of classes for indefinite period," they said. -PPI