RAWALPINDI, May 17: The district government will ask Punjab Governor Lt-Gen (Rtd) Khalid Maqbool not to grant autonomy to the city’s two main educational institutions.

The Punjab government, in pursuance of the federal government’s policy of extending autonomy to major educational institutions, has planned to make Gordon College and Federal Government College for Women, Sixth Road autonomous.

The step aims at improving the institutions’ output, administrative and financial management.

District Nazim Tariq Kiani said there were reservations about unprecedented hike in the cost of education at these institutions after getting autonomy.

“Protecting the poor people is our foremost priority,” he said.

Besides the students, the teaching staff of these institutions had concerns over the future of their service, and were preferring to serve at government institutions.

Meanwhile, the district government has assured over 100 contractual teachers working in the city’s eight women colleges that their extension cases will be taken up with the provincial government.

The contracts of these teachers would be expiring in August, this year. Majority of the teachers at these institutions are working on contract. These institutions are Government Girls College E Block Satellite Town, Govt Girls College F Block Satellite Town, Govt Girls College Muslim Town, Govt Girls College Zafarul Haq Road, Govt Girls College Milad Nagar, Govt Girls College Dhoke Hassu, Govt Girls College Mohanpura and Govt Girls College Dhoke Illahi Bukhsh.

There were apprehensions among the students that educational activities would be hampered in case the teachers’ extension cases were delayed.

In a related development, plan to recruit 2,053 teachers for the district schools is in the final phase, and officials are sure that they will be hired on contract by the start of the next fiscal year.