Teachers of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) have followed the lead of their counterparts at the University of Karachi by announcing a boycott of academic activities and examinations until their demands are met.
The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the Teachers’ Associations of the Abdul Haq and Gulshan-e-Iqbal campuses held at the Abdul Qadeer Khan Auditorium on Thursday. The participants resolved to boycott all teaching activities as well as examinations scheduled to commence on June 8.
The meeting described the tenure of Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zabta Khan Shinwari as the “most unsuccessful” in the university’s history and called upon the university’s chancellor, President Asif Ali Zardari, and Pro-Chancellor and Federal Education Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui to declare an educational emergency at the institution and initiate accountability of the vice chancellor’s administration.
According to a resolution adopted at the meeting, the teachers demanded immediate payment of all outstanding house-ceiling claims and withdrawal of the recently imposed 20 per cent reduction in such payments. They also called for the release of all pending salary and pension arrears and settlement of post-retirement dues of retired employees.
The faculty further demanded that the university convene a selection board without delay in accordance with vacancies advertised in 2022. The resolution also sought reinstatement of teachers and employees who had been removed from service, promotion of teachers nearing retirement in line with a Senate resolution under hardship provisions, and payment of honoraria to part-time faculty members teaching in evening programmes.
Among other demands, the teachers called for the withdrawal of the university’s conditional admissions policy and the adoption of a merit-based admissions system. They also sought reimbursement of salary deductions made against earned leave and restoration of medical panels for university employees. The joint declaration warned that the boycott of examinations and academic activities would continue until the demands were addressed.
