KARACHI: The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) decided to boost its protest drive by going on a hunger strike across Sindh from Thursday (today).
The main demands of the SPLA include timescale, promotion and shortage of teachers in the colleges of Sindh.

SPLA President Ather Mirza on Wednesday said while talking to Daily Times that the college teachers will gather on March 24 to hold a protest rally in support of their demands adding that the rally will besiege the Chief Minister’s House if the government did not accept their demands.

It is pertinent to mention here that the SPLA observed a strike in the colleges against the police torture on professors and lecturers. Educational process remained suspended in all colleges, while teachers tied black bands on their arms and a press conference was also held to vow that the SPLA will continue its protest till the acceptance of its demands.

Teachers Association, Sindh Chapter also condemned the police torture on respectable teachers. In an emergency meeting on Wednesday the association passed a resolution to condemn the brutal act of police torture and urged the government to accept the demands of SPLA.

Meanwhile, Sindh Education Department Secretary Naheed Shah said while chairing a high-profile meeting at her office that the department had sent a requisition of 1,272 lecturers in various subjects to Sindh Public Service Commission to meet the shortage of teaching faculty in colleges. She was of the view that the government had introduced several reforms in colleges and had resolved the long-standing issues of teachers.

Commenting on the statements of education secretary, Mirza claimed that the said requisition was sent six months earlier, but no further action had been taken in this regard. Besides these 1,272 vacant posts, there is a shortage of 3,000 teachers in the Sindh colleges. Did the government take any measure to meet this shortage, he inquired.

He was of the view that the ongoing situation shows the lack of will at the ruling side. He vowed to safeguard the education sector of Sindh and said that the SPLA will continue its struggle for the betterment of education. Token hunger strikes will be organised in six cities including Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Khaipur and Nawabshah.Daily time