KU teachers go on indefinite strike from today

The Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) has announced a strike from Friday over alleged administrative and financial crises at the varsity.

The strike starting today will continue until the teachers’ body decides otherwise, KUTS Secretary Dr Faizan-ul-Hassan Naqvi told The News on Thursday. Naqvi added that the KU’s budget had not been approved for the past four years, which had affected the academic and research work at the university.

“The teachers in the evening programme have not been paid their arrears for the past one-and-a-half years, while the permanent faculty members are yet to receive the increment announced in the provincial government’s budget four months ago,” he said. “The visiting faculty are being hired at a rate of Rs600 per lecture, which after deduction is reduced to Rs480. Even this is not being paid.”

Moreover, the KU’s structure and facilities were in a dilapidated condition suggesting mismanagement of the administration, Naqvi asserted and lamented that students were moving towards private universities because of these problems in the public sector.

Earlier in the day, the KUTS convened a general body meeting at the arts auditorium, which passed a resolution to boycott all academic activities at the varsity until further notice. It also endorsed the teachers’ strike in the evening programme ongoing since September 14. The meeting demanded of the Sindh governor and the chief minister to take notice of the crises and form a commission to investigate their causes.