KARACHI, May 9: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association (SPLA) has come up with hard feelings about the denationalization of the St. Joseph’s College for Women and the St Patrick’s College and decided that teachers through out the province would boycott the ensuing intermediate class annual exams commencing on May 17.

Not happy over what it called “illegal” handing-over of the two colleges to private party on May 7 by the Sindh education minister, the central body of college teachers in Sindh announced at a press conference on Monday to observe strike in all the colleges of Sindh on May 11. Protest meetings would be held and resolution condemning the denationalization would be passed during the day, said a SPLA office-bearer.

Prof Manzoor Hussain Chishti, the president of SPLA, also the general-secretary of All Pakistan Professors and Lecturers’ Association threatened of a country wide protest campaign against the said decision.

He said that he had already talked to the leaders of the teachers’ bodies in the other three provinces for solidarity on the issue and rallies and demonstrations would be held soon in other provinces as well.

The Sindh education minister had no consideration of the sentiments and problems of teachers, students and parents, who mainly belonged to the middle income group, and was resorting to take anti-education and anti-people decisions one after the other, observed another office-bearer of the association, saying “we have no other option but to go for a head-on-collision, as all our boats have been burnt now”.

Reading out from a prepared text, Prof Chishti said that protest demonstrations would also be held at press clubs in various cities and the level of protest would be increased in the days to come, while the Sindh education minister would not be invited at ceremonies of colleges in the province.

Among other leaders and office-bearers of the association, who participated in the press conference, Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan and Prof Iftikhar also spoke.

They maintained that “the decision to denationalize the two colleges in relaxation to the government set criteria and handing over of those to the Catholic Board of Education, without observing rules and regulations, should be a source of concern for people at the helm of affairs”, as it was tantamount to setting examples for another over 40 applicants who had not been entertained by the education department for their alleged failure to meet the related conditions.

They demanded of the Sindh government to revoke the decision of handing over the colleges in question to the Catholic Board and institute an inquiry in the issue, under the superior courts’ judge.

It was also said that government should maintain the nomenclature of the government St Joseph’s and St Patrick’s colleges and arrange for shifting of entire lot of students and staff of the these colleges to other government buildings so that the students already admitted to intermediate and degree classes could continue their education under experienced teachers in a peaceful environment.

The leaders said that teachers and students were not consulted prior to the decision on denationalization by the Sindh cabinet, while on the other hand the “whimsical resolution” was translated into action in haste, without proper home works.

At a time when the HSC examinations are around and about 2,000 students of the two colleges need guidance of their teachers and want completion of other examination formalities in their hands they had been left unattended, said Prof Iftikhar.

They maintained that the Sindh cabinet was not competent enough to take the decision for denationalization of colleges, while on the other hand the claimants of the two colleges had not been successful in establishing their clear right in the case of two colleges in question.

Moreover, different parties have entered constitutional petitions against the decision of denationalization of the two colleges and government should at least have waited for the completion of the courts’ proceedings before any execution of the decision, said Prof Chishti.

The leaders claimed that the then chief secretary of Sindh had assured the SPLA on March 9 that no development would be observed till the time proceedings in the court cases were finished, which had been negated now.