LAHORE: Provincial education ministers on Wednesday visited Aitchison College Principal Michael Thomson to convince him to withdraw his resignation that he had earlier tendered allegedly under pressure from political circles for taking disciplinary action against some students.

Minister for Higher Education Raja Yassir Humayun and Minister for School Education Murad Raas jointly held a meeting with the principal at his residence and requested him to withdraw his resignation. They also assured the principal of addressing his grievances about the alleged pressure from the Board of Governors.

When asked, Mr Thomson would not confirm whether he had withdrawn his resignation or not.

He told Dawn in an email: “I am hopeful that common sense will prevail and the best interests will be served for a strong Aitchison College.”

Meanwhile, former MNA Kashmala Tariq told Dawn that in April her son Azlan Khan and 11 of his classmates had a minor scuffle with boarding students of the college after which the administration had taken action against the students and suspended them.

“The entire incident was recorded on CCTV cameras installed in the college,” she added.

Ms Tariq said the administration had later allowed all the students to continue their classes, but expelled her son. She met with the administration and filed an appeal against the decision, but no one paid any heed. “I later filed a complaint before a civil court that stayed the expulsion of my son from the college,” she added.

She further said that when the bailiff went to the principal’s office along with court orders, the administration did not allow him to enter the college and refused to receive the orders.

The former MNA said she later filed a complaint before Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and Governor Chaudhry Sarwar requesting an independent inquiry be conducted and that her son be allowed to continue with his studies. She claimed that the court would take up her complaint on Thursday (today) in Islamabad.

Two months ago, the government had revoked the visa of Mr Thomson, an Australian citizen, because he had allegedly denied admission to a boy from an influential family. Later, it had extended the visa only for three months. His visa is now set to expire next month, while he is still left with a year of service under his contract.

In 2015, the management of Aitchison College had barred former principal Dr Agha Ghazanfar from entering the premises on his return from London to resume his duties.

Dr Ghazanfar had filed a complaint at the Racecourse police station against the administration and alleged that he was being punished for upholding merit. He said he was under immense pressure from influential quarters regarding admissions.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2018