KARACHI, Aug 13: Teachers of government colleges on Friday vowed to launch a vigorous campaign against the provincial government's plan of denationalizing educational institutions.

Speaking at a press conference, leaders of the Sindh Professors and Lecturer's Association criticized the provincial education minister for her advocacy of denationalization and reported sweeping remarks against the teaching fraternity, saying that probably the minister was ignorant of realities.

The central and Karachi chapter presidents of the SPLA, Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan and Prof Manzoor Hussain Chisti, said the minister had alleged that teachers were least interested in teaching and were not performing their duties honestly, which was an insult of the entire teachers' community. "SPLA demurs her (minister) statements and considers that her attitude towards teachers does not merit praise," they added.

Turning to the issue of denationalization of St Joseph's and St Patrick's colleges of Karachi, Prof Riaz said that parents and students did not have any reason to be happy after the decision of denationalization.

Despite the fact that the government had to do a lot of work to realize its denationalization decision, the private party, intending to take over the colleges, had started confusing the situation by issuing premature admission policy for the two colleges, he added.

He said that SPLA had gathered information that the private party was persuading students to contact its representatives for admission to first year classes at the two colleges in question for the ensuing academic session.

Prof Chisti said the said private party had also approached to the college principal to surrender a room at St Joseph's college so that it could launch its activities. He challenged the idea of no increase in fees after denationalization of colleges, and maintained that private organizations, including the missionary ones, were already charging prohibitively.

The SPLA leader said that under the impression that President Pervez Musharraf desired denationalization and handing over of the said colleges to a missionary group, the relevant bureaucracy had provided wrong information to the minister and the Sindh cabinet.

They paved the way for major relaxation in the approved denationalization rules by hiding facts, the teachers' leaders added, and urged the Sindh chief minister to look into the matter afresh in order to eliminate unrest among students, parents and teaching and non-teaching staff of colleges.

The SPLA had already announced to hold protest day in colleges of the province on August 16 against the denationalization move. Meetings would be held during the day to pass resolutions against the anti-education approaches of the education minister, they informed.