Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has been in power for 13 years and has repeatedly made loud claims of an “educational emergency,” the province’s mother institution, the University of Peshawar, is now fighting for its survival.
A recent letter written by the Peshawar University Teachers Association (PUTA) to the Chief Minister reflects the bitter reality that all slogans of educational reforms are limited only to paper.
The same university that has served the province for 75 years is now deprived of salaries and pensions, and its employees are facing severe mental and financial distress.
The non-payment of half salaries for March and the withholding of 162 million rupees in pensions are proof of administrative incompetence that has taken root over more than a decade of governance.
Government cuts in university grants and policies of leaving institutions abandoned in the name of financial autonomy have now forced teachers to come out onto the streets.
On one hand, millions are being spent on political publicity, while on the other hand, the empty treasury for the future builders raises serious questions about government priorities.
PUTA has demanded from the Chief Minister an immediate grant of 4 billion rupees and the immediate restoration of the pension fund.
If, even after thirteen years in power, the province’s largest university is on the verge of bankruptcy, then this is not a change of system but a worst example of educational decline.
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