The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) has announced its decision to stage protests, boycott educational activities, and hold a sit-in at the Baloach House in Karachi, demanding a separate ministry for higher education. The SPLA’s central president, Manoor Abbas, along with Secretary General Ghulam Mustafa Kakar, Central Vice President Khurram Riaz, and Woman Vice President Shabana Afzal, stated that colleges in Sindh are crumbling due to the provincial government’s lack of attention. They pointed out that classrooms have broken benches, insufficient cleaning, and outdated furniture. In the age of internet and information technology, the Sindh Textbook Board has not published a single textbook for Intermediate Computer Science, and similarly, no textbook has been published for Commerce.
In a press conference held at SM Arts and Commerce College on January 10, the SPLA leaders emphasized that the Education and Literacy Department of the Government of Sindh was separated from the Ministry of Colleges and Higher Education in 2017. They argued that the colleges in Sindh are being forced to protest due to the lack of a separate ministry for higher education. The SPLA leaders also criticized the provincial government for announcing that professors and lecturers in Sindh would be promoted based on a five-tier formula similar to that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but the promised formula has not been implemented so far.
The SPLA has announced a schedule of protests, which will begin on January 15 in colleges across Karachi, January 19 in colleges across Sukkur, and January 21 in colleges across Hyderabad. If the demands are not met, the protests will continue on January 22 in Sukkur, January 29 in Hyderabad, and February 3 in Karachi. The SPLA has warned that if the demands are still not met, a complete boycott of educational activities will be observed on February 9 in all colleges across Sindh, followed by a sit-in at Baloach House on February 12.
The SPLA has demanded that a fair and transparent transfer and posting policy be introduced, that non-teaching staff be reduced in colleges, that the infrastructure, furniture, and laboratories of colleges be improved, and that textbooks for Computer Science, Commerce, and Arts be published by the Sindh Textbook Board. They have also demanded that principals and DDOs be appointed based on merit, rather than nepotism and favoritism.
