LAHORE – 2010 was a crucial year for the education sector as teachers and students were seen protesting the entire year for their rights, while authorities failed to prove that education was their top priority. A series of corruption at schools, colleges and universities, teachers’ abductions, violence and protests against various policies, governmental and institutional, was recorded during the year. The tragic incidents that the year witnessed include murder of a female teacher at Queeta, abduction of three vice chancellors, schools’ destructions due to the flood, cuts in HEC’s funds, torture of IJT activists on PU teachers and consequent momentary closure of PU, implementation of board of governors (BOG) at 26 colleges, issue of a third divisioner registrar at GCU, rationalization of school teachers, fee increase in private schools and varsities, corruption in the Phd and Mphil results and an attack at the Punjab Assembly by the college students.
AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL;In the month of April, Prof Dr Nazima Talib, a teacher of Mass Communication at Quetta University, was murdered. This incident was highlighted in the international media, while insecure teachers rendering their services in Baclochistan started migrating from Queeta. In a second incident, students and teachers at NUML Islamabad protested and academic activities were closed when a retired army personal slapped a teacher. Teaches in public and private sectors universities and the civil society condemned the incident.
The abduction of the Kohat University VC Lutf Ullah Kaka Khail was the third incident followed by the kidnapping and murder of Sawat University VC Prof Dr Farooq that increased tensions at the varsity level. Similarly, Islamia College University of Peshawer VC was abducted in the earlier half of the year 2010.
2010 was a bad year for all the public sector universities of the country and owing to a cut in HEC’s funding, 72 public sector universities, for the first time in history, jointly threatened to close varsities. Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUSA) observed black day against cutting in funds, as students enrolled in foreign universities on HEC’s scholarships suffered. This year Model University Act was implanted in Peshawer University and was opposed all over the country.
In the public sector universities of Lahore, in the beginning of 2010, two main incidents were the topic of discussions. In the first incident, several IJT activists attacked Prof Dr Iftikhar Baloch, a PU teacher, and allegedly tried to kill him. Teachers jointly boycotted the academic activities and for the first time PU was closed for 20 days and around 30 thousands students suffered an academic loss. In the second incident, a PU female teacher allegedly exposed the corruption of their male colleagues in MPhil and Phd examinations. PU administration started an inquiry and announced its findings but still did not take any action. Then in another incident,
GCU VC Prof Dr Khalid Aftab allegedly tried to extend the tenure of third divisioner registrar, which supposedly was not eligible for the post in the first place. GCU faculty protested and the university’s repute was put at stake. Similarly the extension of a retired army man as UET VC for the fourth time was also condemned by the varsity teachers.
The protests of the plant pathology students of the PU in different corners of the city also remained the on the papers’ headlines for quite some time. An alleged sexual attempt of Dr Baloch on females and recovering of objectionable materials from the same professor’s room were a few more incidents to top the chart. The torture on students by IJT activists continued throughout the year while some PU employees supported by pro IJT teachers were also involved in giving life threats to PU Geography Department Head Dr Abul Ghaffar.
AT SCHOOL LEVEL TOO; The disaster that the flood brought with itself requires little explanation. The schools were destroyed especially in the southern Punjab and the government was found struggling the entire year for restoration.
Under the rationalization program, transference of teachers based on need forced the teachers to be shifted to schools miles away from their houses. This rationalization of around 26 school teachers was one of the worst incidents, as Punjab government and concerned EDOs in various districts victimized female teachers and transferred them in far flung areas.
This victimization was recorded in Lahore where EDO education was allegedly involved. The teachers’ associations opposed this and female teachers were found lamenting in front of the EDO education’s office.
A number of female teachers also protested against Punjab CM but the government could not stop this practice.
Punjab government also recruited around forty school teachers this year and exams of 5th and 8th class were announced compulsory for private schools. At primary level English was declared compulsory; drop out ratio increased. At private sector increase in the school fees was also a major issue which was criticized by the parents.
AND AT COLLEGE LEVEL; The disaster that the flood brought with itself requires little explanation. The schools were destroyed especially in the southern Punjab and the government was found struggling the entire year for restoration. Under the rationalization program, transference of teachers based on need forced the teachers to be shifted to schools miles away from their houses. This rationalization of around 26 school teachers was one of the worst incidents, as Punjab government and concerned EDOs in various districts victimized female teachers and transferred them in far flung areas. This victimization was recorded in Lahore where EDO education was allegedly involved. The teachers’ associations opposed this and female teachers were found lamenting in front of the EDO education’s office. A number of female teachers also protested against Punjab CM but the government could not stop this practice.
Punjab government also recruited around forty school teachers this year and exams of 5th and 8th class were announced compulsory for private schools. At primary level English was declared compulsory; drop out ratio increased. At private sector increase in the school fees was also a major issue which was criticized by the parents.
