Teachers from the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (Fapuasa) declared on Wednesday that they would discontinue teaching on all campuses in the province starting on Thursday in protest of a number of government actions, including the appointment of bureaucrats as vice chancellors.

They were speaking at a briefing that followed the association's general body meeting at Karachi University (KU).

"Until the government changes its contentious higher education policies, this protest will go on. The disturbance in academic activity is entirely its fault," stated Dr. Akhtiar Ghumro, the head of the Fapuasa-Sindh branch, who also added that teachers were compelled to take this drastic measure as the government had not complied with their sincere requests.

"The government has not reversed its decision to hire teachers on a contractual basis, nor has it retracted its damaging move of changing the vice chancellor's appointment criteria, which would allow bureaucrats or commissioned officers to head general universities," Dr. Ghumro explained in response to the teachers' position.

The instructors contended that institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and educational standards would all be negatively impacted by bureaucratic control of colleges.

"Autonomy is a key component of the top educational institutions in the world, and this action goes against it. The head of the Karachi University instructors' Society, Dr. Mohsin Ali, stated that hiring instructors on a contract basis will cause instability in the educational system and that having unstable work will keep professors from concentrating on their studies and instruction.

The teachers also expressed their displeasure with the Higher Education Commission's (HEC) meddling in academic affairs and what they called a dire financial crisis among public universities, arguing that a lack of funding, infrastructure, and personnel had denied students access to research facilities and had a detrimental effect on the standard of education.

Their requests included giving vice chancellors back the power to grant non-objection certificates because the present convoluted procedure made it difficult for teachers to attend conferences around the world.

Dr. Kamran Zakria from the NED University Teachers Association, Dr. Arshad Memon from Mehran Engineering University and Technology, Dr. Akhtiar Gadahi from Sufi University, Mr. Asif Hussain Samo from Sindh Madressatul Islam University, Dr. Tariq Hussain Jalbani from Sindh University, and Dr. Farhat Nazir Khoso from SAU were among the teachers' representatives present.