Karachi University’s visiting teachers not paid for over seven months

The University of Karachi’s visiting faculty, which makes up 60 per cent of the total academics at KU, have not been paid their salaries for over seven months, The News has learnt.

According to the available information, contract teachers have not been paid since August 2020, even though they have repeatedly approached the university’s administration to demand their salaries. The officials concerned, however, are yet to take action to address the issue.

Due to the unpaid salaries, a number of cooperative teachers have already stopped teaching at KU, while several others have also informed their hiring authorities and heads of their respective departments that if they are not paid on time, they will quit.

The senior and permanent faculty are of the opinion that if the visiting faculty stops teaching, it will have an adverse effect on the university's academic activities. According to them, KU’s permanent teachers are fewer than the required number. The university, therefore, should release the salaries of the cooperative teachers at the earliest, so they could continue teaching at the departments they were hired for, they said.

One of the unpaid teachers, who currently teaches at KU’s Faculty of Social Sciences, said: “For the past six months I’ve been moving applications at seven different offices of the university to release my salaries, but no one considers my applications.”

He said the KU administration is yet to deploy an officer at the accounts department for receiving salary vouchers from the teachers. This shows that the administration is completely unaware of the difficulties being faced by the visiting faculty, he added.

Another teacher, who recently left his job, said KU had been paying him a nominal salary. He said he would receive Rs1,200 a lecture in the evening programme and Rs600 in the morning programme.

“A visiting teacher can earn between Rs25,000 and Rs28,000 if they fully engage themselves in teaching. It’s a very little amount compared to the huge salaries, incentives and facilities being provided to the permanent academics on a regular basis.”

He also pointed out that while KU has granted more admissions in the evening programme to generate more funds, a majority of the visiting teachers have been hired for running the evening classes.

“On the one hand, the university administration is making money, but on the other, it doesn’t pay the salaries of the contract teachers. When the teachers approach the directorate of the evening programme, they refuse to play a role in the matter.”

He said he has also performed duties as an examiner, and after the exams he also marked papers of the candidates of the affiliated colleges. “It’s been around one year, but the examination department hasn’t paid me anything for my duties as an examiner.”

‘Incompetency’

The KU spokesperson said the university has started a project to digitise their payment system by introducing enterprise resource planning (ERP) with the help of the National Telecommunication Corporation.

“We have almost completed the project, and it will be functioning in a few months. The faculty members would be able to submit online salary vouchers, and get information about the status of their applications by clicking personal profiles.”

Prof Dr SM Taha, a member of the project, said: “I’m just a member of ERP representing the syndicate. I also voiced my concern for the visiting faculty whose salaries have been unpaid for a long time.”

He said ERP is a system that will enable all the employees of the university to get access to the information provided by the relevant departments, to know the status of their applications, send their theses to foreign referees and perform other functions.

He explained that right now the peon of the vice chancellor contacts several departments and it takes him a few hours to gather the information he requires. “But ERP will improve this task, and teachers or heads of the departments could simply update him via the system.”

He said the salaries of the visiting teachers are pending because of the incompetency of the finance department. “I have been voicing concern on the issue in the syndicate and at other decision-making forums.”

KU’s director of finance, however, seemed reluctant to talk on the issue with The News and clarify the situation, despite the fact that he was contacted several times.