KARACHI, Oct 3: Educational activities in colleges and universities are likely to affected as teachers and students have announced that they will go on strike after 10:30am on Friday to press their demands for the withdrawal of the Model University Ordinance and protest other educational policies of the government.

According to the Joint Action Committee, a boycott of classes at universities and colleges will be observed on Friday to hold protest meetings and rallies.

In Karachi, after 10:30am, teachers and students will gather at D. J. Science College. A march towards the Governor’s House is also scheduled, added committee sources.

The committee wants immediate withdrawal of the Model University Ordinance, which has already been approved by the federal cabinet. The protesting quarters are of the opinion that the MUO was aimed at depriving the masses of higher education facilities available in the public sector.

In the meantime, a press release said that the Karachi University Teachers’ Society had called for a day of action on the campus on Oct 4 to express dissent against government policies of liberalization on the behest of the World Bank.

KU teachers will go on strike after 10am and abstain from academic activities on campus, and later would gather at the Arts Lobby, from where they will proceed to D. J. College.

The day of protest is being observed by FAPUASA, SPLA, PMA, APLA, Parent Teachers Association and the School Teachers Association. The joint action committee is also against the setting of the board of governors in government run hospitals.