• Decision indicates teachers’ sincerity towards education: Fapuasa
• Association to boycott ruling party lawmakers, ministers and bureaucrats ‘at every level’ as teachers-govt standoff continues
• Plans to move court against controversial law that allows non-PhD bureaucrats to become VCs

KARACHI: Students of public sector universities across Sindh, who have suffered the most due to the government-teachers stand-off over a controversial law, heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday when the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) decided to “resume” classes from Thursday (today).

While holding the Sindh government responsible for the academic loss of thousands of students, the association said the “decision to temporarily resume activities indicate teachers’ sincerity towards education”.

Teachers belonging to Fapuasa had boycotted for more than two weeks academic activities at 17 institutions of higher learning in Sindh and staged protest demos against a controversial law that allowed the provincial government to appoint bureaucrats as vice chancellors of public sector universities.

The teachers resorted to a strike on Jan 16 following a decision of the provincial cabinet to change the criteria for appointment of vice chancellors and allow non-PhD bureaucrats to head universities. Later, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party used its numeric strength in the Sindh Assembly to get passed the controversial amendment to the universities’ law last week despite strong opposition.

‘A new phase of resistance’

On Wednesday, the Sindh chapter of Fapuasa held an online meeting that took several key decisions to sustain the public and the media pressure on the government.

Sources said that these steps included challenging the “the unconstitutional law” in court and holding boycotts of MPAs, ministers, and bureaucrats from the ruling party at every level.

“Every visit of these officials to universities will be observed as a black day to protest their anti-education policies,” shared Fapuasa-Sindh president Dr Ikhtiar Ali Ghumro.

Describing the new mode of protest as a strategic shift in teachers’ struggle, he said: “From tomorrow [Thursday], our struggle will mark a new phase of resistance, where teachers will conduct classes by wearing black armbands every day. Every lecture will include awareness sessions on the catastrophic implications of this amendment.”

The teachers, he said, also decided to suspend all academic activities at 12 noon on Feb 11. They would organise protests rallies in their respective universities, he added.

“We will be engaging national and international academic bodies to expose the Sindh government’s assault on higher education. There will be general body meetings in coming weeks in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Khairpur to further mobilise faculty and students,” he said.

The association would also hold press conferences, protests and rallies across Sindh while its central body would be asked to observe another ‘black day’ in coming days in universities across the country, he added.

On behalf of the association, he regretted students’ loss due to teachers’ strike and said the decision to temporarily resume activities indicate teachers’ sincerity towards education.

Teachers regret academic loss

On behalf of the association, Dr Ghumro regretted students’ loss due to teachers’ strike and said the decision to temporarily resume activities indicate teachers’ sincerity towards education.

“However, the Sindh government has shown zero concern for students’ education, refusing to negotiate despite clear warnings. Our protest is not a war or competition but a principled stand against unjust decisions. We have chosen to boycott academic activities as a last resort to draw attention to the grave implications of these amendments,” he argued.

Unlike the Sindh government, which held the administrative power and control over university vice chancellors and funding, the tools of academicians were dialogue, discourse, and peaceful protest, he said.

In a press statement, the association once again “vehemently” opposed the recent amendments to the Sindh Universities and Institutes Law (Amendment) Act 2025.

“These amendments, which permit the appointment of non-academic bureaucrats as vice chancellors pose a grave threat to the autonomy of educational institutions and undermine the principles of autonomous governance, academic freedom, and intellectual excellence in Sindh’s higher education sector,” it said.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2025