KARACHI: After causing students a loss of three academic days, the teachers and non-teaching staff at Karachi University (KU) decided on Thursday to end their strike initiated over the non-payment of salaries, albeit with a six-day deadline given to the administration to replace the finance director appointed by the former chief minister.

The decision was reached in a detailed meeting held between the representatives of the teachers and the non-teaching staff, and the vice chancellor.

“The vice chancellor has agreed to our demand for the finance director’s resignation, write a detailed letter on his performance to the government, and ensure the appointment of a new finance director,” said president of the Karachi University Teachers’ Society Dr Shakeel Farooqi. He added that the deadline of Aug 10 had been given to the administration to implement these steps.

Teachers, he said, would observe a black day on Aug 9 to raise their voice over issues that the teachers had been concerned about for a long time. These problems included the failure of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in adequately raising the university grant, delay in the release of research grants, and approval of research journals and issues in the tenure track system.

“The teachers’ society and the KU Employees Welfare Association have agreed to observe a black day on Aug 9, and take out a rally on Aug 11, if the university administration fails to solve our problems,” Dr Farooqi pointed out.

Earlier in the day, a large number of teachers along with non-teaching staff gathered at the university’s administrative block and chanted slogans against the finance director, the provincial government and the HEC.

There was a shared frustration over media reports that the university had sufficient funds but couldn’t utilise them owing to the non-cooperative attitude of the finance director.

“Salaries have been released without including the 10 per cent raise the government announced this year. Besides, pensioners and retired employees are still deprived of their dues,” revealed a teacher who participated in the demonstration.

‘Illegal strike’

Though the three-day strike could be termed successful in a way that it led to a complete suspension of academic and administrative work at the university, and the administration released salaries after a delay of two days, it came to light that the boycott of classes didn’t have the support of the entire teaching community on the campus.

Speaking to Dawn, some of these teachers expressed their reservations over the strike and described it as ‘illegal’ as students, they said, had nothing to do with problems teachers and the non-teaching staff had with the HEC or the university’s finance director.

Teachers, they observed, should have adopted other means to sort out these matters.

“There was no justification to make the students suffer. If the teachers have problems with the finance director, they should have approached the chief minister who appointed him or complained to the government in writing,” said dean faculty of social sciences, Prof Moonis Ahmar.

He regretted that students had to suffer three days of academic loss for reasons beyond their control.

Similar concerns, sources said, were raised in a meeting chaired by the vice chancellor on Thursday. Participants comprising senior professors of the university objected to the strike and termed it “an unfair strategy on part of the teachers”.

When asked about the ‘illegal strike’, Dr Farooqi said: “The reasons the strike was called for included certain problems students have been facing for a long time. An increase in the university grant will improve quality of education and benefit students. Besides, teachers will take extra classes next week to compensate for the academic loss.”

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2016