KARACHI: Teachers representing the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) on Wednesday announced that they would suspend teaching activities on all campuses across the province from Thursday (today) in protest over several government decisions including plan to appoint bureaucrats as vice chancellors.

They spoke at a briefing held at Karachi University (KU) following a general body meeting of the association.

“This protest will continue until the government reverses its controversial decisions regarding higher education. It is solely responsible for the disruption in academic activities,” said Dr Akhtiar Ghumro, head of the Fapuasa-Sindh chapter, adding that teachers were forced to resort to this extreme step because the government had not responded positively to their genuine demands.

Explaining the teachers’ stance, Dr Ghumro said: “The government has neither stepped back on its damaging move of changing the vice chancellor’s appointment criteria, which would allow bureaucrats or commissioned officers to head general universities, nor has it reversed its decision on hiring teachers on a contractual basis.”

The teachers argued that the autonomy of universities, their academic freedom and educational standards would be seriously affected once universities come under bureaucratic control.

“The world’s best educational institutions thrive on autonomy and this move violates that principle. Appointing teachers on a contractual basis will destabilise the education system, and insecure employment will prevent teachers from focussing on research and teaching,” said Dr Mohsin Ali, head of the Karachi University Teachers’ Society.

The teachers also raised their concerns over the “interference of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in universities’ academic matters and what they described as a severe financial crisis affecting public sector universities, contending that the lack of financial resources, infrastructure and staff had deprived students of research facilities and negatively impacted educational quality.”

Their demands included delegating the authority to issue non-objection certificate back to vice chancellors, as the current complex process delayed teacher’s participation in international conferences.

The teachers’ representatives in attendance included Dr Kamran Zakria (NED University Teachers Association), Dr Arshad Memon (Mehran Engineering University and Technology), Dr Akhtiar Gadahi (Sufi University), Mr Asif Hussain Samo (Sindh Madressatul Islam University), Dr Tariq Hussain Jalbani (Sindh University) and Dr Farhat Nazir Khoso (Sindh Agricultural University).

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2025