Sindh, April 9 (IANS) In a major disappointment with Pakistan’s Sindh government, the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) announced a protest movement to address several issues faced by college teachers. The sit-in demonstration will be held on April 15 in Sukkur, April 17 in Hyderabad and April 22 in Karachi, local media reported.

Asserting that college teachers in Sindh are being consistently ignored, SPLA’s central President Munawar Abbas and Secretary General Ghulam Mustafa Kaka, along with other leaders, said that despite several written requests to the Minister of Education in Sindh, no action has been taken, forcing them to take to the streets.

They slammed the provincial government stating that while teachers from the primary to university levels have been upgraded, college teachers have not been given any importance.

The SPLA leaders detailed 14 demands in the charter of the protest movement. These demands include granting college teachers in Sindh a five-tier formula similar to that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, providing promotion opportunities and issuing health cards for college education staff.

Additional demands include reconstruction of colleges, provision of modern digital classrooms, preparation of a permanent transfer and posting policy and strengthening of laws to prevent attacks on colleges, Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported.

Furthermore, the leaders stated that the protest movement aims to secure the rights of college teachers and improve the educational system.

Earlier, rounds of protests erupted in universities across the Sindh province as there was a stand-off between the provincial government and university teachers over the former’s plan to appoint bureaucrats as Vice-Chancellors of public sector universities. The protesting faculty contended that appointing bureaucrats as university heads would not only undermine academic freedom and excellence but also expose universities to increased political interference.

Despite strong opposition from academic circles, including the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, the Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Universities and Institutes Law (Amendment) Act, 2025, on February 1. In response, university teachers promptly launched their protest, boycotting classes and suspending academic activities to voice their dissent, The Express Tribune reported.