ISLAMABAD (Staff Report):: On July 12, representatives of the All Public Universities BPS Teachers Association (APBUTA) attended a meeting of the special standing committee at the Parliament House in Islamabad.
The meeting was chaired by the honorable member of the National Assembly, Mr. Qadir Khan Mandokhail. During the meeting, the long-standing issue of over 40,000 BPS teachers in universities was brought up, and the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) was sternly directed to find a satisfactory solution to secure the legitimate fundamental rights of the teachers as outlined in the HEC Ordinance.
However, the HEC official, Qazi Abid, who represented the HEC, failed to present any substantial progress on the matter during the past two years. Moreover, the Chairman of the HEC did not attend the meeting, which was deemed unfortunate by the attendees. Conveying their concerns, Convener Qadir Khan Mandokhel highlighted the violation of rights granted in the ordinance and the delaying tactics employed by the HEC, despite previous agreements and commitments made to other standing committees. This situation was seen as unjust and a severe deprivation that the PPP could not remain silent about, as it adversely affects respected teachers in universities across the country.
The committee unanimously agreed to issue a show cause notice for non-compliance with the strict directives and called upon the Chairman of the HEC to personally provide progress on the nationwide issue of university teachers in the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 18, 2023.