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RAWALPINDI, July 18: Leaders of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) vowed to continue their campaign against denationalization of educational institutions.
The association, in an emergency meeting here on Thursday, decided to inform the Punjab governor, chief secretary and secretary education of its resolutions passed at different meetings against the privatization bid. It was also decided at the meeting that a rally would be arranged in Rawalpindi to protest against privatization.
The PPLA president, Mohammad Ilyas Qureshi, told the meeting that the issue was concerned with the future generations. Therefore, masses would also be taken into confidence and their support sought, he added.
The PPLA vice-president, Prof Mohammad Siddique, general- secretary Prof Rauf Ahmad Shah and other senior professors attended the executive council meeting .
On the other hand, teachers also held protest meetings in different schools.
The Punjab Teachers Union, Rawalpindi president, Imtiaz Abbasi, spoke to gatherings and assured them that the movement would continue until the decision had been withdrawn.
He said a number of schools would be privatized which not only affect hundreds of teachers but also deprive millions of poor students from acquiring education.
The leaders of the teachers community will gather in Murree on Saturday to devise their future strategy.
OUR REPORTER ADDS: The Pakistan Labour Federation has criticized the proposed privatization of educational institutions in the country.
In a press release issued here, the federation secretary, Haji Mohammad Saeed Arian, said the government had taken the decision following the instructions of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Thousands of employees of the public sector educational institutions would also be retrenched following the decision, he added.
He asked the federal government to withdraw the decision and ensure job security of the teachers so that they could focus on their duties with dedication.
Mr Arian said, unfortunately Pakistan was following the instructions of the international donor agencies without considering the plight of government employees, who were already living under pressing conditions. Forced retirement, ever- increasing fuel and daily commodities prices have become a routine affair of the country and it only affect low income group employees, he added.
He also asked the government to impose a ban on the import of luxury items and make education free till the tenth grade.
