KARACHI: SPLA to launch protest campaign on 16th - Denationalization slamed
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 5: The executive council of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers' Association has demanded removal of the provincial education minister as she, according to it, was not working in the interest of education in the province.
The college teachers' body criticized the government for its policies and its alleged indifferent attitude towards teachers and students of the government-run institutions, and finalized an agitation programme on the province level, commencing on Aug 16.
Briefing the newsmen about the executive council's meeting held on Thursday, the provincial president and secretary-general of the association, Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan and Prof Agha Khalid Pathan, respectively, said that the association would fight against the 'anti- education and anti-people' policies of the government, and would strive to make the education affordable for the people.
Criticizing the recent government decision to denationalize the St Joseph's and St Patrick's colleges, they maintained that the way the matter was placed before the cabinet and relaxation in conditions was granted, reflected that the Sindh government was under certain pressures to give the two colleges to the Catholic Education Board.
The CEB had approached the government twice in the past, but its offers were not found viable for the cause of education in the province, they added, saying that Dr Hameeda Khuhro, while giving her consent for the denationalization of the colleges had undermined the right of the poor students to get education at prestigious institutions run by the government.
They claimed that despite the fact that the CEB had not been handed over the premises in question, irrelevant people had already started visiting the institutions, which was hampering the process of education there.
The SPLA leaders also demanded appointment of college teachers on 1,500 vacant posts, besides promotion of 800 teachers, 150 librarians and physical education directors of colleges.
PROTEST PLAN: As per SPLA's plan, colleges in the province will observe a 'black day' on Aug 19 and hold protest meetings and general council meetings on different dates after that, while a general body meeting of the association will be held on Sept 21 and it will bring out rallies in Karachi.
TEACHER BODIES: The leaders of the Karachi University Teachers' Society, Prof Sohail Barkati and Sarwar Nasim, besides the officer- bearers of different school teachers' bodies, Anisur Rehman and Syed Ahmad, who were also present during the press briefing, also expressed their solidarity with the SPLA in opposing the denationalization, saying it would cast negative impact on the education and make it unaffordable for the masses.
It was the responsibility of the government to provide education to the people, and as such it should not withdraw itself from educational institutions, they added.
Present on the occasion, Patricia Murray, identifying herself as a former chairperson of the women wing of the Catholic Association, also criticized the handing over of the two colleges to Catholic Education Board and demanded for withdrawal of the decision.
Those who have pursued the government for the denationalization were not the real owners of the schools and colleges, which were originally raised with the financial contribution of the laity, she added and mentioned that she had already written letters to the president and Sindh education minister on the issue.
