KARACHI: The stand-off between the provincial government and university teachers over the former’s plan to appoint bureaucrats as vice chancellors of public sector universities continued on Sunday as the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Associations (Fapuasa)-Sindh decided to keep academic activities suspended on Monday (today) and hold protest rallies across the province.

Teachers representing the University of Karachi, Sindh Madressatul Islam University Karachi, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Mehran Engineering University Jamshoro, Sindh University, Government College University Hyderabad, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, University of Sufism and Modern Sciences, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering and Technology Nawabshah, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Mehran University Campus Khairpur, Technical University Khairpur, Shaikh Ayaz University Shikarpur, and other institutions participated in the meeting.

“The association unequivocally holds the Sindh government responsible for the ongoing crisis in public sector universities. Instead of engaging constructively with stakeholders, the government’s dismissive and high-handed approach has intensified the crisis.

“Faculty members have been compelled to suspend academic activities due to the government’s neglect and provocative behaviour,” says a statement released by the association after the meeting.

The association decided that teachers’ associations from all public sector universities, under the banner of Fapuasa-Sindh, will hold a large-scale protest at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday (tomorrow).

It invited other organisations, including the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA), Karachi Bar Association, and civil society groups, to join the demonstration in solidarity with the teaching fraternity’s demands.

It also decided to consult prominent lawyers in Sindh to explore the possibility of filing a petition against the proposed amendment bill that threatens the autonomy and effectiveness of public sector universities.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2025