PESHAWAR, Dec 2: The Khyber Medical University Act is believed to have affected the teaching staff of medical colleges in the province, it is learnt.

Sources said the provincial governor had promulgated and implemented the Act earlier this year, paving the way for the establishment of the province’s first public sector medical university, the Khyber Medical University (KMU).

However, teachers at the basic medical sciences in the KMU’s constituent medical colleges said the act had badly hit them. “It has closed the doors of promotion.

We were never consulted during the legislation of the act despite several requests,” a senior teacher said.He claimed that more than 100 teachers of the public sector medical colleges would not be able to get promotion due to the controversial act.

“We have done the FCPS. Now, I would be required to do PhD for promotion,” said an assistant professor. He said that earlier he had been promoted on the basis of the FCPS but now he would continue to be an assistant professor until his retirement.

Another senior teacher complained that teachers of the clinical sciences were entitled to promotions with the same postgraduate qualification. “A teacher would not be required to do PhD if he/she had done the FCPS in medicines, surgery, paediatrics, orthopaedics and other disciplines of the clinical medical sciences for promotion,” he pointed out.

According to the new rules, teachers of clinical medical sciences would get promotions by virtue of their degrees, but those working as teachers at the basic medical sciences departments would be required to get PhD degrees despite having done FCPS.

“Actually, all the teachers of the clinical sciences had been involved in preparation of the KMU Act, who did what suited their interests,” another teacher claimed.

Teachers of the clinical medical sciences were being made members of the Senate and the Syndicate, he added.

An official at the KMU told Dawn that it would start offering PhD courses in basic medical sciences soon to enable the complaining teachers to get promotions.

However, teachers argued that they would not be satisfied until the recognition of their diplomas for promotions. “We would approach the government to incorporate amendments to the KMU Act so they could stand entitled to promotion with same qualification,” a senior teacher said.