EDITORIAL: The resignation tendered by principal of the elite educational institution, Aitchison College Lahore, over political interference lays bare how the culture of entitlement is fraying the fabric of this society.
According to media reports, the wife of Federal Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema, herself a civil servant, following her transfer from Lahore to Islamabad filed an application in August 2022 for leave of absence for her two sons stating that they were minors and could not be left unsupervised in Lahore.
This was understandable, but she also sought fee waiver for the two boys despite the school administration informing her that as per the rules the leave of absence had been accepted but she would have to pay the complete tuition fee for the duration of their absence.
Still, she insisted on securing an exemption, saying she could not afford to pay fees to two schools, one in Lahore and the other in Islamabad. In that case she was under no compulsion to have the Aitchison seats reserved. It is a privilege offered to parents who need to relocate due to job transfers.
The privilege though comes at a cost, which the bureaucrat mother, according to her, could not afford and decided to go over the principal’s head to approach Governor Baligh Ur Rehman for the favour, who readily revoked the school’s decision and granted a complete fee waiver for a period of three years. For the principal, Michal A. Thomson, an Australian with extensive experience in the field of education and stickler for rules, this proved to be the end of his tether.
We are all too familiar with the reasons he cited for his resignation in a letter to his staff. Every word in it would resonate with regular people. “I have done my best”, he wrote, “to protect the school’s reputation while extending compassion to those in need.
However, there is a crucial difference between this pursuit and the presence of blatant policy manufacturing to accommodate certain individuals because such people simply insist on preferential treatment”. Politics and nepotism have no place in schools, he added.
Meanwhile, a raging controversy erupted in the media, forcing the government in the province as well as at the Centre to do some damage control. Federal Information Minister reached out to an embittered Principal Thomson with a request to withdraw his resignation, and told a TV interviewer that the government would amicably resolve the issue.
A number of parents and students also staged a protest demonstration in front of the Governor’s House on Tuesday, which may convince the principal to stay on till his retirement due come August.
Whenever he leaves he would have set a great precedent for his successors to follow. Civil society has an important role to play in such situations, helping conscientious occupants of public offices everywhere to withstand pressure from influential individuals who think they have a right to claim special privileges at the expense of others.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024