KARACHI, April 4: The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) on Wednesday demoted almost 150 teachers earlier granted promotion in violation of Higher Education Commission (HEC) guidelines.

Well-placed sources in Fuuast said that 300 teachers were promoted to their next grade and the promotion was approved by the university’s syndicate.

The sources said that the HEC had set the guidelines for promotion of teachers following Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s assurance that teachers would be given due promotion in accordance with the rules and regulations.

Under the guidelines, the assistant professors and professors possessing PhD degrees would be promoted to their next grade, i.e. grade-20 and 21, respectively.

However, in the case of certain teachers, the guidelines were not properly followed by the syndicate which approved promotion of many teachers who did not meet the set criteria.

The HEC took notice of the syndicate’s act of violating the guidelines and directed it to reverse certain promotion orders. Accordingly, Fuuast had to issue a circular on Wednesday declaring the promotion granted to ineligible teachers, almost 150 in number, null and void.