KARACHI, April 7: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers’ Association has demanded of the government to fill the vacant posts of over 2,500 lecturers and non-teaching employees in colleges throughout the province on priority basis. Briefing the newsmen about the association’s general body meeting held on Thursday, the senior office-bearers said that April 30 had been set as a deadline for acceptance of the teachers’ demand.

In case the government fails to take appropriate actions, including issuance of notifications pertaining to the SPLA’s demands which have already been discussed and accepted by the relevant authorities, teachers will observe hunger strike at Hyderabad, Karachi and Sukkur from May 2, they added.

Teachers from Sanghar, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur and Dadu attended the general body meeting, wherein issues of teachers and security matters were also discussed. Among others, Prof Syed Riaz Ahsan, Prof Mashooq Baloch, Prof Khadim Khuso, Prof Moharram Kulhoro, Prof Azizullah Ujjan, Prof Athar Mirza, Prof Ayub Mari, Prof Rais Khanzada and Prof Akbar Khan addressed the meeting.

Reading out the demands at a press conference, the president of SPLA Sindh, Prof Manzoor Hussain Chisti, said that participants were pertinent about the lawlessness in educational institutions and poor state of security to teachers’ lives.

The meeting has demanded for immediate arrest of killers of principal of the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, Prof Dr Mohammad Saleem Khan, Mr Chisti added saying that political and unruly elements should be halted interfering in educational institutions.

The teachers also observed that the decision taken by the government regarding denationalization of St Joseph’s College and St Patrick’s College was uncalled for and the education department be asked to halt processing the cases of denationalization of educational institutions in Sindh in the larger interest of students and education.

The meeting demanded for annulment of changes made in the academic calendar of Sindh, up gradation of librarians and physical education directors, promotions of teachers, doubling of salaries of teachers and payment of house rent allowance at the rate of 60 per cent of the basic salaries, 30 per cent medical allowance and 10 per cent conveyance allowance.