In Peshawar on Monday, teachers and students from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joined forces to protest the provincial government’s new plans. The government wants to outsource a number of under‑enrolled colleges and tie the promotion of college lecturers to an MPhil degree and research output.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Professors and Lecturers Association (KPPLA) called a meeting that day. Chaired by Prof. Qazi Zafar Iqbal, members agreed to keep their partial class boycott going until the Higher Education Department pulls back the two contested proposals.
Teachers in public colleges stopped classes after 10 a.m. at many sites. At the same time, students staged road‑block protests in several districts, demanding that the government reverse its decisions to privatise colleges and raise promotion requirements.
KPPLA’s action committee plans to hold a press conference soon to lay out a future strategy. Local units will meet lawmakers in their constituencies to brief them on how the outsourcing plan and new MPhil rule threaten university standards and student access. The committee says the demonstrations will grow if the government does not back down.
In Charsadda, students from the Government Degree College in Shabqadar blocked roads and carried signs calling the move “privatisation of education.” They warned that turning colleges into profit‑making businesses could make higher education unaffordable for poor and middle‑class families.
Swabi saw hundreds of students from the Government Postgraduate College, led by the Pakhtun Students Federation, block the Swabi‑Mardan road for hours. Police later stepped in and promised that student concerns would reach higher officials.
In Mardan, the Jamiat Talaba Islam organized a similar protest at College Chowk. Speakers there criticised the governor’s decision to hand over 55 colleges to private hands and urged that education remains a right, not a commodity.
Mohmand District also joined the protest wave, with students blocking the Peshawar‑Bajaur Highway to lobby against the government’s abolition of the BS programme. They warned that if their demands are ignored, they could spark a district‑wide agitation.
The protests underscore a growing tension between the province’s education policy and the voices of teachers and students. If the government’s outsourcing and MPhil promotion rule remain, it could further widen the gap between rich and poor students and push universities toward commercial interests. Whether officials heed the KPPLA’s call or the students’ road blockades will shape the future of higher education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Source: aninews
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