The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) has announced an intensification of its protest movement, citing government inaction on the dilapidated condition of government colleges and long-unfulfilled demands. The association plans a major protest rally and a symbolic sit-in at the Sindh Secretariat on February 2.
In a unanimous decision made on Tuesday, the leadership of SPLA Karachi Region announced that teachers will march from SM Arts and Commerce College to the Sindh Assembly, which will be followed by a sit-in. SPLA Karachi President Professor Asif Munir said that this action is being taken ahead of a previously scheduled sit-in at Bilawal House on February 12, and stressed that, “When we are not being heard, protest is the only way left.”
Addressing a meeting of the Regional Executive Committee, SPLA’s central president, Professor Munawar Abbas, said that although college teachers across Sindh have been protesting for several days, the provincial government and bureaucracy are “not willing to listen.” He affirmed that teachers from the Karachi region are determined to participate in the demonstrations.
The association’s demands are wide-ranging, including the implementation of the five-tier formula, promotion of lecturers against thousands of vacant posts, and a revision of staffing levels based on the student-teacher ratio. Further demands include the establishment of new colleges, particularly for computer science, and the implementation of a fair policy for transfers and postings.
SPLA is also demanding an immediate solution to the severe shortage of non-teaching staff in educational institutions and the unavailability of infrastructure, furniture, and laboratory equipment. They demand merit-based appointments for principals and other key positions to end the “nepotism and recommendation culture.”
Financial concerns are also a central point of the protest, with the association demanding the restoration of the frozen house rent, conveyance, and medical allowances in line with inflation, and the issuance of M.Phil and PhD allowances as per the directive of the higher judiciary.
Professor Munir highlighted another cause for frustration, calling it “extremely regrettable” that even four months after the Departmental Promotion Committee meeting, the official minutes for Directors of Physical Education and Librarians have not been issued.
During the meeting, the committee also passed a resolution strongly condemning the arrest and imprisonment of Professor Abdul Quddus Kakar, the president of the Balochistan Professors and Lecturers Association.