This post is also available in: العربية (Arabic) اردو (Urdu)
The reason educationalists in Pakistan are not given the priority they are all over the world ranges from actions to intentions. Teachers and professors are generally not given the same status in Pakistan, which they are used to in other countries.e
The relationship between a teacher and a student is that of a father and his child, he teaches them the ways of life, not just rhetoric information that is provided in books. He is meant to act as a father figure, whom students feel comfortable with.
However, the complete opposite has happened in Jamshoro, Sindh. A professor of the Sindh University demanded a female student’s phone number if she wanted a good result at the end of the year. The student came out in public and addressed the demands of her teacher.
As reported by Samaa TV, the female student spoke to the channel’s reporter, claiming that her professor had been asking for her phone number and she was too scared to let her family know about this. The professor demanded that if the student wanted good grades, she had to exchange her phone number and keep in touch. Further reports suggest that other professors have also been making the same demands from female students.
The girl claimed that the Vice Chancellor of the University had been taken into confidence and told about the situation, but that too went to waste as no action was taken. The professors’ union of the university is too strong for them to tackle and this is the reason nobody dares make complaints against them.
It is very plain and simple to why the professors had been demanding the female student’s phone number in exchange for good grades. If senior teachers who are to act as mentors for these students resort to such shady actions, there would be nobody students could trust and come to with their problems.
The relationship between a student and their teacher is supposed to act as the epitome of respect and mutual admiration, of which we’ve unfortunately ourselves tarnished. Here’s to hoping the Sindh University administration and the VC would take immediate and disciplinary steps against faculty members who have resorted to harassment.
