08 October 2004	Friday	22 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 7: Expressing dissatisfaction over the attitude of the Sindh education department, the college teachers of the province have decided to relaunch their protest campaign to press their demands.

Unfolding the details of a meeting of the executive council of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association, the provincial chief of the body, Prof Riaz Ahsan, at a press conference said that teachers throughout the province would observe a black day on Oct 12, and hold a general body meeting in Karachi and stage a sit-in at the Sindh chief minister house on Oct 14.

The mediamen were told that teachers had started their campaign on Sept 5 to make the government realize their problems and order issuance of certain notifications, which had been promised by the education department and other government high-ups during different meetings with SPLA representatives.

However, we had stopped the campaign in the wake of our very first meeting with the new education minister on Sept 15, as she had agreed to move the cabinet for a review of its decision on denationalization of educational institutions, added Prof Riaz, saying that the SPLA was also informed that steps would be taken on priority basis to overcome the shortage of about 2,500 teaching and non-teaching staff at colleges of province, for elimination of outside interference in college affairs and promotion of teachers, librarians and physical education teachers to different grades.

Prof Riaz lamented the attitude of the education department and said that it appeared that the education minister was least interested in resolving the issues confronting teachers.

He said the province was facing an acute shortage of college teachers, particularly at the 32 newly established colleges in Karachi and other 20 in the interior Sindh, which needed to be addressed immediately. The department as an emergent action should lift ban on appointment of 741 teachers, who had already been offered jobs on contractual basis for three years.

The SPLA Karachi president, Prof Manzoor Hussain Chisti urged the chief minister to ensure immediate action for withdrawal of the denationalization decision of his cabinet and order issuance of notification pertaining to promotion of teachers and check political interference in educational institutions of the city.