KARACHI, May 13: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association on Friday withdrew its call for boycott of upcoming intermediate annual examinations, starting from May 17 all over the province after assurances from Sindh Secretary Education that all their issues including promotions would be resolved by June 10.

This was decided in a meeting of SPLA office-bearers Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan, Prof Aga Khalid, Prof Mehram Ali Kalhoro, Prof Khadim Hussain Khoso with Sindh Secretary Education Muhammad Hashim Leghari and Additional Secretary Education Tufail Ahmed Jumani.

They discussed issues pertaining to handing over of St Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s colleges to the Catholic Education Board, promotions of teachers into next grades, payment of arrears and intermediate exams.

It was agreed that 1,186 teachers and non-teaching staff of denationalized colleges would be transferred to the new colleges, established by city district government to continue teaching process at those colleges and to prevent SNEs from lapsing.

The secretary assured SPLA office-bearers that promotion orders of teachers would be issued this month and a meeting would be convened in the end of May to deliberate on promotions of teachers from BPS-17 to 18.

He told the visiting delegation that all EDOs (Education) in Sindh had been directed to submit cases of promotions of librarians and DPs at the Education Secretariat while the finance department would be written a letter for payment of arrears to teachers.

Hashim Leghari assured them that he would recommend to Sindh Governor for increasing remuneration of exam staff of all educational boards of Sindh in a uniform manner while examination duties would only be assigned to senior teachers.

He told the delegation that law enforcing agencies including police and Rangers were being approached to maintain law and order during exams at the centres and to hold them in a transparent manner.

On these assurances, the SPLA announced that it would take part in upcoming intermediate exams commencing from May 17 and warned that if the decisions were not implemented by June 10, it would dissociate from the exam process.

Ironically, the SPLA did not press the education department for reverting the decision regarding handing over of denationalized colleges to the Catholic Education Board, which it had termed illegal earlier and was major cause of protest and boycott of intermediate exams. — PPI