QAU teachers plan sit-in against VC

Islamabad :Heightening tensions on campus, the Quaid-i-Azam University’s Academic Staff Association has announced it will continue protesting against Vice-Chancellor until he steps down over administrative failures.

Protesting outside the VC offices for many days by staying put for two days daily, the ASA members said they had decided to stage a sit-in at different places between the entrance (Babul Quaid) and the administration block to reiterate its demand. ASA Secretary Dr Sohail Yousaf told ‘The News’ that the VC had falsely claimed that the faculty didn’t want to meet him as the fact of the matter was that the faculty approached the VC’s office everyday but found him to be behind the iron curtain and unapproachable.

He said the association had submitted a written document to the VC’s office to register the grievances. “The MS programme has been closed down in almost all departments because the administration failed unable to answer a simple query by the Higher Education Commission first enquired way back in 2015. The MSc programme is in its last leg,” he said. Dr Sohail said the VC claimed about the huge funds brought to the university by him was laughable. “The only funds he (VC) brought to the QAU during his whole tenure total Rs50 million. Of them, Rs40 million was provided to fulfill the demands of the students promised to them during their recent sit-in and Rs10 million for sinking a tubewell to overcome water shortage on campus,” he said.

The VC insisted that the agitation was limited to 35 to 40 faculty members. He told ‘The News’ that the protest was led by two former presidents of the Academic Staff Association, who were demoted after the HEC refused to endorse their cases for promotion over failure to meet the criteria.

The VC also said another active member of the agitating group was denied the TTS (tenure-track system) salary, which was considerably higher than regular salaries on account of the low quality and quantity of his research, while another faculty member was protesting the closure of her department (Linguistics) – a decision made by the syndicate two years ago. He said two members of the business school, who didn’t hold PhDs were unhappy with the recent contracts given to two highly-qualified professors.