MULTAN, March 23: The teachers and students at the University College of Education have some ‘serious’ complaints against the institute’s management from concentration of power to hostile working and living environment.

Some UCE teachers and students told Dawn that the college principal, Prof Muhammad Azad Chaudhry, had entrusted too many portfolios to his subordinate, Prof Dr Muhammad Sharif.

Prof Sharif holds the offices of vice-principal and controller examinations. Besides, he is the chief warden of college hostels and convener of the advisory committee, time table committee and honoraria review committee.

“Having all these powers, Prof Sharif has become the defacto principal of the college,’ the teachers said, accusing the official of exerting unjustified pressure on those academics who opposed his religio-political ideas.

They said the “defacto principal” threatened the teachers he dislike merely for political reasons. “What he does is that he tactically reduces workload on them as convener of the timetable committee, saying “you can be fired for being useless under the proposed restructuring of the University of Education.”

They said Prof Sharif was a teacher of Persian language and as a matter of fact none of the college students had opted for Persian as a subject for the last several years.

The students said Prof Iqbal Husain had been once again made superintendent of the college hostels by the principal on the advice of chief warden Prof Sharif.

Interestingly, Prof Iqbal was removed from the same office some five years ago on the charges of mismanagement, irregularities and alleged ‘harassing’ of the female boarders. “The charges were levelled by none other than the present principal, who was working at that time as the chief warden of the hostels,’ they added.

The students said the superintendent had closed the main gate of the girls’ hostel and, consequently, the boarders had to use a path which passed through his adjacent official residence. “It becomes an awkward situation especially when the superintendent is often found relaxing with his friends in the evening alongside the path,’ they said.

When contacted, principal Prof Azad Chaudhry denied the allegations saying, ‘A group of teachers supported by a former principal of the college has been creating problems’. He said he had ordered closure of the main gate of the girls’ hostel because it was in a bad shape.

He denied that he had lodged complaints as chief warden some five years ago against Prof Iqbal Husain. But, he declined to comment when told that record of college council meetings held in September 1999 and June 2000 revealed that he and some other senior teachers of the college levelled some serious allegations against Prof Iqbal viz-a-viz the latter’s assignment as the hostel superintendent.

He, however, admitted that none of the students had opted for Persian as a subject at UCE Multan for the last several years.