80% of Grade 20 Posts Vacant as CM’s ‘Busy Schedule’ Delays Meetings; Hundreds of Lecturers Await Promotion for 14 Years
KARACHI (News Desk) – The Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) has threatened to launch a protest movement over continuous delays in the promotion process within the Sindh College Education Department and the non-resolution of other long-standing issues faced by teachers.
In a meeting of SPLA’s central executive committee, presided over by Central President Professor Munawar Abbas, it was unanimously decided that if their demands are not met, a province-wide sit-in will be staged outside the Chief Minister’s House or the Sindh Secretariat on August 11.
According to SPLA, hundreds of posts in Grades 18, 19, and 20 are lying vacant in the Sindh College Education Department, yet the promotion process is being deliberately subjected to unnecessary delays. The association highlighted that lecturers have not been promoted to the next grade despite serving for 14 years. Furthermore, the decisions made during the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting held on July 14 are not being implemented.
A resolution passed during the meeting stated that the promotion of Assistant Professors to Grade 19 is being blocked under the pretext of finalizing seniority lists. Meanwhile, despite approximately 80% of Grade 20 posts being vacant, the meeting of Board-One is being repeatedly postponed, citing the Chief Minister of Sindh’s busy schedule as the reason. This situation has caused severe anxiety and unrest among the teaching community.
SPLA has given the government a final opportunity to resolve these issues. A high-level delegation of the organization, led by the Central President, will meet with the Secretary of Colleges and other relevant officials to urge the immediate restoration of the promotion process.
The association warned that if demands are not accepted, a phased protest will commence as soon as colleges reopen. Protest demonstrations are scheduled for August 3 in Karachi, August 5 in Hyderabad, and August 6 in the Sukkur region. During this period, teachers will perform their teaching duties while wearing black armbands as a sign of protest.
SPLA further announced that if the government fails to accept the demands despite all negotiations and protest phases, college teachers from across Sindh will stage a sit-in outside the CM House or Sindh Secretariat on August 11. Civil society organizations and other government employees’ associations will also be invited to participate in the protest.